GREENWOOD – Jareal Smith and Michael Panaggio combined for 53 points, while shooting 86.9 percent from the field Saturday afternoon to lead the Lander men's basketball team to a 96-63 Peach Belt Conference win over Francis Marion at Horne Arena.

Lander improves to 14-8 overall and 8-5 in the PBC, while FMU slips to 8-12, 5-9.

In their best offensive game of the season, the Bearcats scored the most points, had the most field goals made (39), most threes made (13), best field goal percentage (.629), and best three-point field goal percentage (619).

Jareal Smith connected on 11-of-13 shots, including 4-of-5 threes, and both free throws for a game-high 28 points. Panaggio was 9-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-5 threes, and 2-of-3 foul shots for 25 points. JR Washington connected on 4-of-6 three-point attempts for 12 points.

Dustin Jones led FMU with 15 points, the lone Patriot in double figures. Clark Major had a team-high five rebounds.

For the game, Lander was 39-of-62 from the field (62.9 percent), including 13-of-21 from the three-point line (61.9 percent), and 5-of-11 from the foul line (45.5 percent). The Bearcats won the battle of the boards, 34-26.

The Patriots made 24-of-54 field goals (44.4 percent), including 12-of-28 threes (42.9 percent), and 3-of-7 free throws (42.9 percent).

FMU led one time in the game when Evrik Gary's three pointer with 16:35 left in the first half gave the Patriots a 9-8 advantage.

Lander then scored 12 unanswered points to go up 20-9 at 12:34. The Bearcats kept filling the bucket and stretched their advantage to 45-21 with 43 seconds remaining in the half.

Lander's biggest lead of the game came with 5:03 left when it held a 38-point advantage at 87-49.