COLUMBUS, Ga. – Columbus State University used a late 14-0 run, rallying from an eight-point deficit with under three minutes left to beat the upset-minded Lander Bearcats 77-76 in the Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament quarterfinals at Lumpkin Center Sunday afternoon. Lander's valiant effort included JR Washington's career-high 31 points.

The Bearcats are 19-9 and hoping for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The tournament field will be announced next Sunday night.

Columbus State improved to 21-6 and meets Young Harris in the PBC semifinals at UNC Pembroke next Saturday.

Lander was the third seed from the PBC East Division while the Cougars were second in the West.

The Bearcats led 66-58 with 2:40 left on Washington's three-point play. But Columbus scored the game's next 14 points to go up six, then held off Lander in the final seconds.

Washington made 11 of 18 shots from the floor, including six of eight from behind the arc while also grabbing nine rebounds for the Bearcats. Washington scored 13 consecutive LU points in the final 3:33.

Kiair Crouch added 17 points, including eight of 10 free throws for Lander. Tobiasz Hose scored 10 points and Ricardo Martin paced the Bearcats with 10 rebounds.

Kenney Funderburk led Columbus with 26 points, making nine of 15 shots from the floor.

DeAngelo Kirkland added a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Shane Heyward also had a big game with eight points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots including several key blocks down the stretch.

Shevren Keaton added 11 points off the Cougars bench as CSU's reserves outscored Lander's bench 24-4.

LU made 27 of 62 shots from the floor (44 percent), 14 of 19 free throws (74 percent) and eight of 16 from 3-point range (50 percent), with Washington hitting six.

Columbus made 26 of 56 shots (46 percent), 20 of 33 free throws (61 percent) and five of 15 from behind the arc (33 percent).

The Bearcats had a 38-37 edge on the boards.

Both squads were only 1-for-9 from the floor in the first seven minutes of the game as Lander led what was basically a free-throw shooting contest, 8-6.

Each team made just their second shot of the game in the eighth minute, with Martin's successful jumper giving the Bearcats a 10-8 advantage with 12:30 left. Lander led 13-9 with 10:37 to go when Washington made the team's first 3 of the day.

Washington made a short jumper and another 3, giving the Bearcats a 20-14 advantage just inside the eight-minute mark. Sergio Smith's basket put Lander up 24-19 with 4:53 left.

Smith's layup gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the first half at 27-19 with 3:04 to go, matched by Washington's tip-in for a 29-21 advantage at the 2:14 mark.

Funderburk's 3 cut the Cougar deficit to 31-29 with 32 seconds left. But Washington answered with his third 3 of the game to push Lander's lead back to five.

Keaton made a layup at the buzzer to pull Columbus within 34-31 at the break.

In the first half, each team shot 39 percent from the floor (10-for-26) and 50 percent from behind the arc (Lander 3-for-6, Columbus 4-for-8) while also playing even on the boards with 19 apiece. But the Bearcats had a four-point edge at the free-throw line.

Scott Elder's put-back and Crouch's runner off the glass increased the Bearcat lead to 38-31 with 18:33 left, and Hose's layup gave Lander its biggest advantage of the game at 42-33 at the 17:30 mark.

Baskets by Heyward and Kirkland pulled the Cougars within three at 44-41 and 46-43 respectively inside the 15-minute mark. But Washington converted a three-point play for a 49-43 lead with 13:19 left and Elder's 3 made it 52-45 with 12:39 to go.

Hose's driving reverse layup gave Lander a 54-46 advantage with 11:47 left and Washington's breakaway layup made it 56-48 at the 10:21 mark.

Hose's jumper gave the Bearcats their first double-digit lead of the game at 58-48 with 9:30 left.

But Lander missed its next four shots and committed three turnovers during a four-minute drought as Columbus scored eight unanswered points, closing within 58-56 on Keaton's basket with 6:11 to go.

The Bearcats ended their scoring drought with 5:33 left when Crouch drove for a layup as the shot clock was about to expire, giving them a 60-56 lead.

Two minutes passed before either team would score again when Washington drained a 3, giving Lander a 63-56 advantage with 3:33 to go.

Washington came up big again off Elder's blocked shot, grabbing the rebound, driving down the court for a layup, getting fouled, and converting a three-point play for a 66-58 Bearcats advantage with 2:40 left.

But Kirkland made a 3, and after a Bearcats turnover, Funderburk converted a three-point play. Lander turned the ball over again and Kirkland drove in for a game-tying layup, making it 66-all at the 2:07 mark.

Heyward collected another blocked shot for the Cougars and they took advantage, grabbing their first lead since the opening minutes of the game at 69-66 with 1:33 to go when Funderburk completed another three-point play.

Heyward blocked yet another shot and Funderburk finally missed inside but was fouled and hit both free throws, giving Columbus a 71-66 lead with 1:07 left.

Brent Jackson made one of two free throws, completing a 14-0 Cougars run as they led 72-66 with 54 seconds to go.

Washington made one of two free throws with 43 seconds left to end Lander's drought. But the Bearcats still trailed by five.

Tim Dixon made one of two free throws, giving Columbus a 73-67 lead. But Washington made a 3, pulling Lander within 73-70 with 24 seconds to go.

The Bearcats immediately fouled and Funderburk made the second of two free throws, putting the Cougars up 74-70 with 23 seconds left.

Lander misfired on a 3-point attempt and Heyward was immediately fouled on the defensive rebound and made the first of two free throws for a 75-70 lead with 11 seconds to go.

But Washington hit a pull-up 3, closing the Bearcats within 75-73 with four seconds to go.

Columbus threw a baseball pass to Jackson and he made both free throws for a 77-73 lead with three seconds left.

Crouch hit a 3 at the buzzer, leaving Lander one point short.