GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team got 23 points from Elijah Alston as the Bearcats made big plays down the stretch to hold off Peach Belt Conference rival Augusta 88-82 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Lander ended a five-game losing streak to the Jaguars, improving to 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the PBC. Augusta fell to 8-4, 3-1.

The Bearcats are 4-0 at home this season. Assistant coach Justin Griffith was acting as head coach for Lander and was victorious.

"The last two days of practice, the guys have been really locked in," said Griffith. "Super proud of the guys tonight. It's all about them."

Alston scored six points in the final minute and a half and paced Lander with eight rebounds.

Sidney Robinson scored 14 points for the Bearcats while Tyler Brevard and Deon Berrien added 13 points apiece. DaJuan Moorer scored all eight of his points in the second half.

Rafael Monteiro paced the Jaguars with 22 points while adding nine rebounds. Seven-foot sophomore Tyshawn Crawford added a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Augusta.

Troy Cracknell scored 19 points for the Jaguars, including five of six shots from 3-point range. Miguel Arnold added 17 points and Tyree Myers five assists for Augusta.

After Crawford's offensive rebound and dunk tied the game at 17-all with 11:22 left in the first half, Lander responded with a 10-0 run to take a 27-17 lead.

Morris Robinson Jr. made a driving basket off the glass, LaRaymond Spivery hit an offensive put-back, Brevard nailed a 3-pointer from the right side, and Alston swished a floater which he converted into a three-point play to finish the 10-0 run.

Cracknell's 3-pointer from the top of the key knotted the score at 31-all with 4:20 to go.

Berrien made a 3 from the left side, two free throws and another basket as the Bearcats went on a 10-1 run late in the first half. Lander led 43-36 at halftime.

Alston missed a 3-pointer but raced toward the basket and put in his own miss off the glass. Sidney Robinson followed with a 3-pointer from the left wing as the Bearcats extended their lead into double digits at 56-45 with 14:26 to go.

Cracknell's 3 pulled the Jaguars within 58-54. But Robinson Jr.'s trey from the left corner gave Lander a 63-54 advantage with 10:32 left.

Arnold's 3 from the right corner cut Augusta's deficit to 65-63 just under the eight-minute mark.

After Brevard forced a Jaguar to lose the ball out of bounds, Zane Rankin nailed a 3 from the right side giving the Bearcats a 72-65 advantage with 6:15 left.

Crawford's put-back pulled Augusta within 74-70 with 3:04 to go. But Jaguars head coach Dip Metress was called for back-to-back technical fouls and was ejected.

Berrien made two of four free throws as a result of the technicals and then Moorer drove inside for his fourth basket of the second half to make it 78-70 with 2:47 left.

Monteiro's free throws cut Augusta's deficit to 78-74 with 1:43 to go. But Moorer found Alston wide open for a layup to extend Lander's lead to six.

Cracknell's 3 pulled the Jaguars within 80-77 at the one-minute mark. Then Brevard's put-back gave the Bearcats an 82-77 advantage with 36 seconds left.

Augusta's Cracknell and Lander's Sidney Robinson traded two free throws apiece before Cracknell's fifth trey of the game cut it to 84-82 with 16 seconds to go.

But the Bearcats had another big play left. Brevard took the inbounds pass under his own basket and threw a long pass to Moorer on the left side. Moorer flipped the ball to a wide open Alston for a layup and three-point play, making it 87-82 with 11.4 seconds left. Alston would add another free throw for the final point of the night.

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