MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Breshay Johnson and Destinee Langford posted double-doubles as the Lander Bearcats outscored the University of Montevallo 15-4 down the stretch, opening their Peach Belt Conference season with a 74-68 victory over the Falcons Saturday afternoon at Trussmark Arena.

Lander improved to 6-2 overall, 1-0 in the Peach Belt. Montevallo fell to 3-4, 0-1.

Johnson paced the Bearcats with 16 points and 14 rebounds while Langford added 14 points and 13 boards. Mylea McKenith and Jessica Harris contributed 15 points apiece to Lander's balanced attack.

Harris led the Bearcats with five assists while Langford paced the team with six steals.

Montevallo's Morgan Smith hit four 3-pointers in the second quarter, leading all scorers with 21 points. Haven Albright added 19 points for the Falcons while Rayvon Christian and Jazmine Stubblefield added 10 points apiece.

Stubblefield paced Montevallo with nine assists while Smith and Albanellys Perez led the Falcons with eight rebounds apiece.

The Bearcats started their final comeback while trailing 64-59 with 6:25 left. Harris hit a free throw, Langford made a fast-break layup and after a Falcons bucket, Johnson delivered a reverse layup to pull Lander within 66-64 at the five-minute mark.

After Johnson made a free throw to cut the deficit to one, Langford scored inside to give the Bearcats the lead for good at 67-66 with 2:20 left.

Johnson scored inside again to increase Lander's lead to 69-66 inside two minutes left in the game. After Christian scored in the paint to pull the Falcons within one with 1:31 to go, Harris made a driving layup for a 71-68 advantage at the 1:08 mark.

Johnson grabbed a defensive rebound to end Montevallo's next possession and after the  Bearcats ran the shot clock down, Harris was fouled and made one of two free throws for a 72-68 lead with 28 seconds to go.

Johnson pulled down yet another defensive board, leading to a pair of Langford free throws with 21 seconds left for the game's final points.

Lander led by as many as six in the first quarter and was up 24-22 going into the second period. But Smith got hot with her fourth 3 of the second quarter giving Montevallo a 36-33 advantage at the 5:54 mark.

McKenith scored twice inside, Alexius High hit a 3, and Johnson scored as the Bearcats regained the lead at 43-37 with a 10-1 run. Lander led 43-40 at halftime.

Christian scored inside to give the Falcons their largest lead of the game at 54-47 with 2:33 left in the third quarter. But Langford scored a pair of baskets and added two free throws, and High nailed a 3 as the Bearcats pulled into a 56-all tie. Montevallo led 58-56 going into the final period.