SAVANNAH, Ga. – Lander held Armstrong State without a field goal in the final 4:28 of the second half and won its fourth consecutive conference road game, edging Armstrong State, 75-73, on Saturday afternoon. 

Lander improved to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the Peach Belt Conference, while the Pirates fell to 6-11, 4-6. The Bearcats increased their lead in the PBC East Division to two games with the victory. 

JR Washington led Lander with 18 points, while Tobiasz Hose added 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Travis Fredimon and Scott Elder each netted 10 points. Sergio Smith finished with six rebounds.

The Bearcats made 28 of 55 shots from the floor (50.9 percent), 10 of 19 free throws (52.6 percent) and nine of 19 from 3-point range (47.4 percent).

Shaquiell Mitchell led Armstrong State with 20 points and 11 rebounds, both game highs. Nicholas Scott had 18 points while Herbert Graham scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Pirates made 27 of 57 shots (47.4 percent), seven of 12 free throws (58.3 percent) and 12 of 28 from behind the arc (42.9 percent).

Lander led by as many as 11 in the first half and took a 38-33 lead into halftime after a Tyree King jump shot with eight seconds to go in the opening half. 

The Pirates took their first lead of the second half on a layup from Mitchell with 15:17 to go. Both teams battled back and forth to a 66-66 tie with 6:10 remaining, but buckets from Hose and Fredimon put the Bearcats on top 70-66 with 4:50 left to play. 

Armstrong State got its final field goal of the game on a one-on-one from Mitchell with 4:28 to play. The basket and ensuing free throw trimmed Lander's lead to 70-69, but Washington answered with a three to give the Bearcats a four-point advantage with 2:44 to go. 

A pair of free throws from King extended Lander's lead to 75-71 with 34 seconds to play. Mitchell connected on a pair of free throws for the Pirates and Armstrong State got the ball back with 17 seconds remaining after a missed free throw from King.

The Pirates got a contested three-pointer up, but Hose collected the defensive rebound and was fouled with less than two seconds to play. Hose missed the front end of the one-and-one, but time expired before Armstrong State could launch a desperation shot.