GREENWOOD – The nationally-ranked Lander Bearcats continued their best start in school history, improving to 13-0 by holding off Peach Belt Conference rival Young Harris College 75-66 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Freshman guard Kiair Crouch scored 20 points as the Bearcats improved to 5-0 in the Peach Belt. The Mountain Lions fell to 5-6 overall, 2-3 in the PBC.

Lander is ranked No. 13 in the D2SIDA national poll and 22nd in the NABC rankings.

The Lander men and women have swept all five Peach Belt double-headers this season while winning a combined 25 games in a row, including 12 consecutive victories for the women. No LU team has lost since Nov. 16 when the Lady Bearcats dropped a road game.

Tobiasz Hose added 18 points for Lander while leading the team with nine rebounds. Crouch and Hose each hit eight of 14 shots from the floor.

JR Washington scored 12 points, Ricardo Martin added 11, and Mike Lee 10 for Lander. Sergio Smith led the Bearcats with five steals.

Kevin Altidor had a big game for Young Harris, scoring a double-double with game highs in points (25) and rebounds (18).

Isaiah Johnson added 11 points for the Mountain Lions while sharing team high honors with C.J. Wilson with five assists. Johnson and Altidor had four steals apiece for Young Harris.

Wilson, who was leading the Peach Belt with 23.7 points per game including a 36-point effort recently, was held to six points on two of 15 shooting from the floor including zero for seven from behind the arc.

Lander made 25 of 53 shots from the field (47 percent), 21 of 36 free throws (58 percent) and four of 13 from 3-point range (31 percent).

Young Harris hit 20 of 66 shots (30 percent) from the floor, 24 of 30 free throws (80 percent) and only two of 19 from behind the arc (11 percent) while edging Lander 44-42 on the boards.

The Bearcats made seven of their first 12 shots from the floor, building a 16-9 advantage with Crouch, Washington and Hose each scoring a pair of baskets in the game's first eight minutes.

Altidor's layup pulled Young Harris within 16-15 with 10:50 left. But Asger Hjorth's free throw, Crouch's basket, and Lee's dunk off Smith's steal extended Lander's lead to 21-15 at the nine-minute mark.

Altidor's basket closed the Mountain Lions within 25-21 with 7:16 left. But Lander responded with a 14-3 run, building its lead to 39-23 with 3:33 to go. Lee made two free throws, Crouch scored, Hose hit a 3, Martin made a put-back, Crouch nailed a 3, and Smith made a fast-break layup.

Young Harris scored the final six points of the first half including Sam Mike's two free throws, Johnson's basket in the paint, and Altidor's dunk to cut its deficit to 39-29 at the intermission.

Bjorn Walker scored twice inside during a 6-0 run to pull the Mountain Lions within 41-35 with 17:24 to go.

Lander used a 13-2 run to build its lead to 54-37 with 13:45 left. Washington made two free throws, Hose scored off his offensive rebound, Martin made an inside bucket, Hose nailed a 3 and another basket, and Crouch scored during the run.

Young Harris scored seven unanswered points on Herdie Lawrence's 3, and Sam Mike's layup and dunk to cut the deficit to 54-44 with 10:44 to go.

Altidor dunked an offensive rebound to pull the Mountain Lions within 57-50 with 8:05 left. Mike's second put-back attempt went down, cutting Young Harris's deficit to 58-54 with 6:09 to go.

Wilson's two free throws pulled the visitors within a possession at 59-56 with 5:47 left.

Crouch responded with a pair of big baskets, hitting a jump shot just inside the arc and adding a driving layup to extend Lander's lead to 63-56 at the five-minute mark.

Lawrence's 3 from the right corner pulled the Mountain Lions within 63-59 with 4:05 left. But Lee rebounded Hose's missed 3-point attempt, laid it in, was fouled and converted a three-point play giving the Bearcats a 66-59 advantage with 3:47 to go.

Smith stole the ball at the other end and Lander wound the clock down. Lee saved a turnover by going to the floor and calling a timeout with seven seconds left on the shot clock. And after the time out, Hose took the inbounds pass and drove in for a layup and a 68-59 advantage with 2:23 left.

But Lawrence hit two free throws, and Ben Waterhouse got a steal and two free throws to pull Young Harris within 68-63 with 2:07 to go.

Washington made one of two free throws at the 1:35 mark and after Crouch forced a turnover, Washington returned to the line and this time hit two for a 71-63 lead with 1:07 left.

Crouch made two free throws with 30 seconds to go and Lee added one, giving the Bearcats a final lead of nine points.