GREENWOOD – Bre Crum scored seven crucial points in the final minutes as the Lander Lady Bearcats had six double-figure scorers to hold off Peach Belt Conference rival Armstrong State 100-87 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena for their 16th victory in 17 games.

Lander improved to 16-3 overall and continue to lead the Peach Belt East Division at 9-1.

The Pirates, who cut a 19-point deficit in the first minute of the second half down to two, fell to 9-8 overall and 7-3 in the PBC.

Ty'hesha Reynolds led Lander with 17 points, Crum scored 16 points, Portia McCray 13, Aarika Judge and Breshay Johnson 12 points apiece, and Brianna Gipson 11.

Judge and Johnson paced the Lady Bearcats with seven rebounds apiece, while Judge and Reynolds led them with six assists each. Reynolds led the team with five steals while Johnson had two blocked shots. Cierra Kendrick added eight points, going six for six from the free-throw line.

Brigitta Barta led Armstrong with 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the floor, Shermika Harris scored 17 points, and Dee Hayward added 16 points while pacing the Pirates with seven rebounds and seven assists.

Amber Howell added 15 points for Armstrong while Alexia Somerset scored 11 points.

Both teams made 35 of 71 shots from the floor (49 percent). Lander had the edge with 24 of 27 free throws (89 percent) and six of 20 from three-point range (30 percent). The Pirates hit 16 of 26 free throws (62 percent) and only one of 12 from behind the arc (8 percent).

Armstrong led 18-14 with 12:35 left in the first half on Hayward's jumper, completing an 18-8 run after trailing 6-0. Hayward scored eight of those points and Barta seven.

Lander responded with a 16-4 run, building a 30-22 advantage at the eight-minute mark. Reynolds and Crum hit consecutive 3s during the run while Johnson scored twice in the paint.

McCray scored the next five Lady Bearcats points and Gipson tallied the following six as the lead grew to 41-29 with 4:08 to go. Judge's jumper with 40 seconds left extended Lander's lead to 50-35 at the break.

Johnson made layups on consecutive trips during the first minute of the second half, giving the Lady Bearcats their biggest lead of the game at 19 points, 54-35.

But Harris scored nine unanswered points all by herself for Armstrong, including two free throws, two baskets, and a 3 as the visitors were within 54-44 with 16:43 left.

Reynolds and McCray scored to up Lander's lead back to 14. But the Pirates decreased their deficit to single digits on Hayward's fast-break basket that made it 60-52 with 14:12 to go.

The Lady Bearcats and Armstrong traded baskets as the lead stayed between 9 and 11 for more than four minutes. But the Pirates pulled within seven on Barta's layup, making it 69-62 just inside the 10-minute mark.

Lander doubled its lead back to 14 with an 8-1 run, including a fast-break layup and a put-back by Crum to make it 77-63 with 8:16 left.

But the Pirates were back within eight, 81-73, on Harris's steal and layup at the six-minute mark.

Armstrong had a chance to pull within five or six after a turnover, but Judge intercepted a Pirates pass near mid-court as she was falling and kept her dribble alive leading to a Kayla West basket in the paint for an 85-75 lead with five minutes to go.

Howell's put-back and Barta's layup pulled Armstrong within 85-79 at the four-minute mark and the Pirates missed two shots on their next possession when they had a chance to cut the deficit further. But Hayward stole the ball and although she missed the layup, Harris got the offensive rebound and put-back to cut it to 85-81 with 2:52 left.

Crum answered with a driving layup, was fouled, and completed a three-point play to increase Lander's lead to 88-81 with 2:38 left. That was the start of a big run for Crum.

Howell's basket cut it two five at the two-minute mark and Barta's steal would result in the lead dropping to two. Barta passed to Howell who missed the layup, but Barta laid it back in, was fouled, and made the free throw to pull Armstrong within 88-86 with 55 seconds left.

But Crum responded again, making two free throws after a reach-in, then collecting a steal and layup to hand the Lady Bearcats a 92-86 advantage with 34 seconds to go.

Judge, McCray and Reynolds made five of six free throws to put the game away, then Reynolds punctuated the victory with a steal and near half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer.