GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team used a 10-2 run to break a late tie and earn an 83-76 Homecoming victory over Francis Marion in front of 1,527 fans Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

The Bearcats improved to 19-7 overall and 13-5 in the Peach Belt Conference.

Lander pulled into a third-place tie in the PBC with USC Aiken, which lost Saturday to Clayton State. UNC Pembroke leads the conference at 15-3, followed by Augusta (14-4), and USC Aiken and Lander.

The top four teams in the conference earn quarterfinal home games in the PBC tournament in early March.

The Patriots suffered their sixth consecutive loss, falling to 4-21 overall and 3-15 in the league. But Francis Marion proved to be a difficult opponent, pulling into a 71-all tie with two minutes left before the Bearcats were able to put the game away at the free-throw line.

Lander seniors Tyler Brevard, Elijah Alston, Morris Robinson Jr., Justin Holliday, and TJ Knight were honored for Senior Day for their final regular-season home games.

Deon Berrien led the Bearcats with a double-double, collecting 21 points and 10 rebounds. LaRaymond Spivery added 13 points and Sidney Robinson 11 for Lander.

DaJuan Moorer contributed eight points and nine rebounds for the Bearcats.

Winston Hill, the PBC's leading scorer, paced Francis Marion with 25 points and eight rebounds. Keith Matthews scored 22 points while Jaquez Smith was the game's top assist man with six.

Moorer's offensive rebound put-back gave Lander its first lead of the day at 18-17 with 9:40 left in the half.

Hill's 3 from the left corner gave Francis Marion a 26-23 advantage. But Robinson made a game-tying trey, Codrin Cobzaru hit a layup off Robinson's no-look pass, and Berrien swished a straight-away trey for a 31-26 Bearcats lead with 3:21 to go.

Berrien's layup with three seconds left off Brevard's steal gave Lander a 40-39 halftime lead.

The score was tied at 42, 44, 46 and 48 in the first four-plus minutes of the second half.

After Alex Cox hit a 3 to give Francis Marion a 51-48 lead, the Bearcats scored eight unanswered points to take the lead at 56-51 with 13 minutes left. Spivery led the run with a pair of fast-break layups, Ryan Jolly converted a layup and Alston hit a pair of free throws.

The Patriots closed within 58-57 and had three possessions with a chance to take the lead but could not.

Spivery's two free throws restored Lander's five-point lead at 64-59 with 7:38 left. But Smith's steal and layup cut Francis Marion's deficit to 67-66 with 4:25 to go.

The Patriots had another shot to take the lead and got to the basket, but Berrien collected a steal. Berrien scored on the other end for a three-point lead and Robinson's two free throws gave the Bearcats a 71-66 advantage with 3:11 left.

Francis Marion pulled into a 71-all tie after Hill followed a Matthews 3 with a pair of free throws.

Berrien broke the tie with a pair of free throws to put Lander back on top at 73-71 with 1:51 to go. And after Hill missed the front end of a one and one, Spivery hit a pull-up jumper to make it 75-71 at the 1:20 mark.

Matthews drove for a layup to pull the Patriots within 75-73 with 58 seconds left. But Berrien's two free throws pushed the Bearcat lead back to four with 41 ticks to go.

Moorer grabbed a defensive rebound on the other end, drew an immediate foul on the play, and added two free throws to extend Lander's advantage to 79-73 with 28 seconds left.

Berrien added two more free throws to make it 81-73 and complete a 10-2 run.

#cLawsUp | @LanderMBB