GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats clinched at least a share of the Peach Belt Conference East Division championship, opening the second half with a 26-4 run on their way to a 77-67 victory over league rival Armstrong State Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

JR Washington led Lander with 19 points, teammate Sergio Smith posted his first career double-double, and Tobiasz Hose also posted a double-double.

The Bearcats improved to 18-8 overall, 12-5 in the PBC. Augusta University (10-7) stayed alive in the East with an 84-82 overtime win at Francis Marion Wednesday night and visits Greenwood Saturday as Lander's Homecoming opponent.

Lander was picked 12th in the PBC preseason coaches poll but can win the East outright with a victory against either Augusta Saturday or Georgia College next Wednesday.

With the loss, Armstrong fell to 10-14, 8-9.

It was the annual Think Pink and Paint Your World Purple game at Horne. The American Cancer Society partnered with Zeta Tau Alpha and the Lander men's and women's teams to create awareness and raise funds about cancer and the Relay for Life.

It was a tale of two halves as Armstrong outscored Lander 38-20 over the last 16 minutes of the first half, making 11 3-point baskets during that run. But in the second half, the visitors didn't score 10 points until only six minutes were left.

Smith scored 18 points and led the Bearcats with 12 rebounds, Hose added 16 points and 10 rebounds, Scott Elder had 12 points and four blocked shots, and Travis Fredimon added eight points and 11 rebounds. Hose and Rahu Purdie led Lander with four assists apiece. Hose and Fredimon also blocked two shots apiece.

Herbert Graham paced Armstrong with 21 points, Jamison Jeffers had 16 points and seven assists, and Shema Sabiiti had seven rebounds.

Lander made 32 of 67 shots from the floor (48 percent), 11 of 17 free throws (65 percent) and two of 11 from 3-point range (18 percent) while holding a huge 50-27 rebounding edge including 21 offensive boards.

The Pirates hit 21 of 57 shots (37 percent), 11 of 16 from the stripe (69 percent) and 14 of 30 from behind the arc (47 percent).

Armstrong missed 11 of its first 12 shots from the floor and Lander took advantage, building an 11-3 lead with 14:14 left in the first half on Washington's steal and driving layup.

Then the Pirates exploded, scoring 16 unanswered points. Kwei Lartey hit the first of Armstrong's four 3-pointers during the run, Graham made two straight with the first putting the Pirates up 13-11 at the 11:37 mark, and Sabiiti added one for a 19-11 advantage with 9:10 to go.

Graham's jumper handed the Pirates their biggest lead of the first half at 24-13 with 7:38 left.

Smith's put-back pulled the Bearcats within 27-21 with 5:07 to go. But Nicholas Scott's 3 pushed Armstrong's lead back to 11, 35-24, with 3:16 left. After the Pirates missed their first five attempts from behind the arc, Scott's trey was the team's eighth of its last nine.

Lander scored seven unanswered points including Hose's basket, Smith's three-point play, and Elder's bucket to close within 35-31 with 1:45 left. But Armstrong closed the half with two more 3s – by Sabiiti and Jeffers – to lead 41-31 at halftime.

The Pirates made 11 of 19 shots (58 percent) from 3-point range, outscoring Lander (0-for-5) 33-0 from behind the arc in the opening half.

The Bearcats exploded during the first 11 minutes in the second half with a 26-4 run, holding Armstrong to 1-for-10 from the floor during the stretch.

Washington scored 11 of the 26 points including two long 3s from beyond the top of the key to give Lander a 52-45 lead with 12:51 left. Smith's put-back had given the Bearcats their first lead of the second half at 46-45, which was followed by Washington's two 3s prompting the Pirates to call a time out.

Lander missed its next four shots, but Smith grabbed his ninth rebound of the game off one of the misses, was fouled, and made one of two free throws for a 53-45 advantage with 10:22 left. Purdie scored the final two baskets of the 26-4 run, making it 57-45 just inside the nine-minute mark.

It took Armstrong nearly 14 minutes to finally reach 10 points in the second half when Ethan Mackey scored to pull the visitors within 59-51 at the 6:08 mark.

One minute later, Fredimon scored to give the Bearcats a 63-52 advantage.

Hose's nifty pass to Smith for a layup and Fredimon's shot off the glass upped Lander's lead to 67-54 with 4:05 to go.

Smith's put-back handed the Bearcats a 70-58 lead with 2:14 left. Seconds later, Sabiiti finally gave the Pirates their first 3-point basket of the second half.

Hose made five of six free throws in the final minute plus to put the game away.