GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team got two three-point plays apiece from DaJuan Moorer and Deon Berrien down the stretch as the Bearcats outlasted Peach Belt Conference rival Flagler 80-72 Wednesday on "Spirit Night" at Horne Arena.

The Bearcats snapped a two-game losing streak, improving to 18-7 overall and 12-5 in the PBC.

Lander remains in fourth place in the league behind UNC Pembroke (14-3), USC Aiken (13-4) and Augusta (13-4).

"We showed some toughness when shots weren't going in," said head coach Drew Richards. "They're one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country and we put an emphasis on making sure they didn't shoot it well from three. I thought we did a good job with that." 

The Saints suffered their fifth consecutive loss, falling to 11-14, 7-10.

The Bearcats trailed by two with three minutes to go, but Moorer converted a pair of three-point plays and Berrien added another to put the game away.

Berrien paced Lander with 18 points, converting two three-point plays in the final four-plus minutes. Moorer finished with 14 points.

Sidney Robinson added 11 points while Elijah Alston scored 10 points while leading the Bearcats with seven rebounds.

Flagler's Gedi Juozapaitis led all scorers with 28 points while Damir Hadzic added 19 points while pacing the Saints with seven boards.

Morris Robinson Jr. hit a long 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down and followed with a put-back on a fast break, giving Lander a 16-9 lead with 12:23 left in the opening half.

Flagler responded with seven unanswered points to tie at 16, and the game would also be knotted at 20, 22 and 24.

Juozapaitis capped a 9-0 Saints run with a three-point play and the visitors led 31-24 at the five-minute mark.

Moorer dunked off an inbounds bounce pass from LaRaymond Spivery, was fouled and completed the three-point play to pull the Bearcats within 36-33 with 3:11 to go, starting a 9-0 run. Berrien capped the run with a basket which gave Lander a 39-36 advantage.

The Bearcats led 40-38 at halftime.

Lander outscored the Saints 14-6 in the first five-plus minutes of the second half to take its first double-digit lead at 54-44. Moorer and Alston each scored five of the 14 points.

Juozapaitis made a 3 to pull Flagler within 54-40 with 11:33 left. But Alston swished a 3 from the left side and also hit two free throws as the Bearcats built a 59-50 lead midway through the second half.

Hadzic dunked on consecutive possessions, rallying the Saints within 62-60 with seven minutes to go.

Hadzic added two free throws and then intercepted a pass and broke away for a dunk, giving Flagler its first lead of the second half at 64-63 with 5:30 left.

Lander regained the lead at 68-66 with 4:27 left when Berrien made a reverse layup, fouled Hadzic out of the game, and completed the three-point play.

Juozapaitis put Flagler back in the lead at 70-68 with three minutes remaining. But Moorer's three-point play put the Bearcats back on top, 71-70, with 2:33 to go.

Moorer drove around a defender one-on-one and made a reverse layup, was fouled and completed another three-point play to give Lander a 74-70 advantage with 1:54 left.

On the opposite end, Tyler Brevard grabbed a defensive rebound and took the ball coast to coast for a layup and six-point Bearcats lead with 1:40 to go.

Lander led 76-72 with the shot clock winding down when Berrien drove to the basket, laid it in, was fouled, and converted the three-point play with 40 seconds left to seal the victory.

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