ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Tobiasz Hose scored 23 points as the first-place Lander Bearcats snapped a three-game losing streak defeated Flagler 85-81 in a Peach Belt Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.

Lander improved to 17-8 overall and 11-5 in the PBC, maintaining its two-game lead in the East Division. Augusta University is in second place at 9-7 in the conference.

The Saints fell to 8-17, 3-13.

Hose also recorded a team-high five steals and went 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Rahu Purdie came off the bench to score 19 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. 

Vaughn McCall paced Flagler with 27 points, making nine of 19 shots from the floor including eight of 16 from behind the arc.

Lander made 26 of 57 shots from the floor (46 percent), 27 of 33 free throws (82 percent) and six of 11 from 3-point range (55 percent) 

The Saints hit 27 of 61 shots (44 percent), 14 of 19 free throws (74 percent) and 13 of 31 from 3-point range (42 percent), while holding a 38-31 edge on the boards.

Flagler netted the game's first seven points and took a 10-2 lead into the first media timeout. After the Saints extended the lead to 17-10 with 13:04 to go in the first half, Lander responded with a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game on a layup from Taylor Buffkin with 9:43 remaining in the half. 

A pair of 3-pointers from Purdie in the final 1:07 of the first half gave the Bearcats a 43-33 lead at the intermission. Sergio Smith's layup with 17:35 left to play gave Lander its largest lead of the day, 53-39. 

The Bearcats were held without a field goal for the final 3:24 as Flagler cut the lead to 82-77 with 37 seconds to play, but Lander connected on 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch to put the game away.