SAVANNAH, Ga. – Lander's Kiair Crouch scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and Tobiasz Hose added 20 Wednesday night to lead the Bearcats men's basketball team to a 79-75 Peach Belt Conference victory over homestanding Armstrong State at Alumni Arena.

The Bearcats improve to 18-7 overall and 10-7 in the PBC, while Armstrong drops to 6-17, 4-13.

Crouch connected on 7-of-10 field goals, including one three, and was 9-of-13 from the free throw line. Hose was only 4-of-16 from the field, but made 10-of-12 free throws and grabbed eight rebounds. Ricardo Martin added 14 points and eight rebounds, while JR Washington netted 10 points.

Nicholas Scott and Jonathan Blair scored 19 points each for the Pirates, while Shaquiell Mitchell chipped in 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Lander connected on 22-of-55 field goals (40 percent), including 4-of-23 threes (17.4 percent), and 31-of-42 free throws (73.8 percent).

Armstrong was 24-of-54 from the floor (44.4 percent), 7-of-15 from the three-point line (46.7 percent) and 19-of-23 from the free throw line (82.6 percent).

After trailing most of the second half, and being down 51-41 with 12:23 remaining, Lander began to make its move. A Mike Lee jumper and a pair of Martin free throws cut the margin to 51-45 with 11:26 remaining.

The Bearcats fell back to eight points down at 58-50 with 8:50 remaining, then three free throws by Hose and a Crouch three-point play cut the Pirate advantage to 58-56 at the 7:48 mark.

Lander finally took the lead at 62-61 with 5:52 remaining on a Crouch layup, but after ties at 63- and 65-all, the Bearcats went up for good via a two Scott Elder free throws with 2:32 remaining that gave the Bearcats a 67-65 lead.

Washington's three at 2:08 made it 70-65 and the Bearcats would hold off the Pirates the remainder of the game at the free throw line.