GREENWOOD – The Lander men's basketball team opened the second half with an astonishing 37-7 run, breaking a halftime tie on its way to a 97-73 Peach Belt Conference victory over Columbus State Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.

The Bearcats improved to 17-5 overall and stayed in contention for the PBC regular season title by improving to 11-3 in the league. They remain tied for second place with USC Aiken, one game behind first-place UNC Pembroke.

"We just got in a little more of an offensive flow," said head coach Drew Richards. "I thought we were very stagnant in the first half. If we can put all 40 minutes together, maybe we'll get close to our potential." 

The Cougars fell to 12-9, 7-6.

Lander has won seven of its last eight games.

The Bearcats led only once in the first half but opened the second half on a 12-0 run, and added runs of 10-0 and 13-0 to amazingly turn a halftime tie into a 30-point lead.

They outscored Columbus State 60-36 in the second half, making 24 of 36 shots (67 percent) from the floor.

Overall, Lander hit 37 of 59 (63 percent) shots in the game to 26 of 66 (39 percent) for Columbus State.

Deon Berrien led the Bearcats with 20 points, making seven of 11 shots. Zane Rankin added 14 points for Lander, hitting four of five attempts from 3-point range while leading the team with five rebounds.

Tyler Brevard also scored 14 points for the Bearcats while DeShundre Rucker added 13 points, making all six of his shots.

Sidney Robinson scored all 10 of his points in the second half for Lander. LaRaymond Spivery and Morris Robinson Jr. paced the Bearcats with four assists apiece.

Karl Ivey led the Cougars with 12 points, Preston Hunter scored 11 and Anthony Moore 10.

Ivey's long 3 gave Columbus State its largest lead of the game at 22-14 with 10:45 left in the first half.

Down 26-20, Lander scored seven unanswered points to take its first and only lead of the opening half. Rucker made a layup in transition off a bounce pass from Spivery, Rankin hit a 3 from the left wing, and Spivery made a step-back jumper to give the Bearcats a 27-26 advantage with 6:21 to go.

Lander fell back behind by as many as five points but tied it with two seconds left in the half, 37-37, on Rankin's 3 from the left corner.

The Bearcats took the lead for good by starting the second half on a 12-0 run. Brevard made a 3 from the top of the key and followed by hitting a jumper, Rucker banked in a shot in the lane, Robinson found Berrien open inside for a layup, and Elijah Alston made a 3 from the left side for a 49-37 lead with 17:05 left.

Robinson's deep 3 from the right side increased Lander's lead to 54-41 with 15:43 to go, igniting a 10-0 run. Robinson scored again, Rucker made a put-back, and Spivery added a three-point play for a 61-41 advantage with 12:48 left.

Columbus State's Hunter completed a three-point play to end the run. But Lander went off on another big run, this one being 13 unanswered points, as Justin Holliday made a 3 and another basket, Robinson Jr. nailed two free throws, and Berrien hit back-to-back treys for a 30-point lead, 74-44, with 9:24 to go.

The Cougars were finally able to start cutting into their deficit, pulling within 82-60 on an Ivey trey with 5:31 left.

Rankin's 3 and Brevard's basket increased the Bearcat lead to 87-60 with 4:41 to go. Columbus State got no closer than 19 points the rest of the way.

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