GREENWOOD – Flagler outscored the Lander Bearcats 20-6 in the fourth quarter to pull off a Peach Belt Conference upset 60-57 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander suffered its second consecutive loss, falling to 14-5 overall and 7-2 in the PBC. The Bearcats started the evening tied for first in the conference with Georgia Southwestern. But the Hurricanes won Wednesday, sending LU into a second-place tie with Augusta.
Lander made only two of 16 shots in the fourth quarter.
The Saints, who made their first 17 free throw attempts before finally missing with 13 seconds left, improved to 9-10 overall and 4-5 in the PBC.
WyKira Johnson-Kelly (Franklinville, N.J.) led the Bearcats with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists. She made nine of 20 shots from the floor.
Tanyia Gordon (Plant City, Fla.) added 12 points and six rebounds for Lander.
Destiny McClendon and Sharale McCormick paced Flagler with 16 points apiece. Dana Bertolina grabbed 13 rebounds for the Saints.
The Bearcats broke a 4-all tie, scoring nine unanswered points to take a 13-4 lead with 2:16 left in the opening quarter. But Flagler pulled within 14-11 going into the second period despite making only two of 13 shots from the floor.
The Saints scored six unanswered points, cutting their deficit to 20-19 with 6:18 left in the half on Se'Lah Reddick's layup.
Cory Santoro (Bellevue, Ohio) made Lander's first 3-pointer of the game, giving the hosts a 25-19 advantage with 4:10 to go. Two minutes later, Amani Melendez (Woodbridge, Va.) swished the second Bearcat trey, making it 28-21 at the 2:30 mark.
Lander out-shot Flagler 46 percent (13 for 28) to 27 percent (8 for 30) but only led 30-27 at halftime. The Saints made 10 of 10 free throws in the opening half to keep the contest close.
Bertolina's 3-pointer pulled Flagler into a 32-all tie with 8:19 to go in the third quarter. The Saints took a 36-35 advantage with 5:33 left when Aspen Weeks made a pair of free throws.
The Bearcats closed the third quarter with a 16-4 run to regain the lead. Johnson-Kelly scored twice while Santoro and Melendez swished 3-pointers for a 45-38 advantage.
Johnson-Kelly made a reverse layup, Ashley Tucker (Buffalo, N.Y.) converted inside and then Gordon hit a mid-range jumper at the buzzer giving Lander a 51-40 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Weeks made a layup to pull Flagler within 51-46 with 6:56 left in the game. Johnson-Kelly converted a driving layup for the first Bearcat points of the final quarter for a seven-point lead with 6:32 to go.
But the Saints kept coming, closing within 53-51 on McCormick's three-point play at the five-minute mark.
Flagler had several opportunities to tie or take the lead as both teams struggled offensively. The Saints finally did tie at 53-apiece on McCormick's layup with 1:57 left.
After a seventh consecutive missed shot for Lander, the visitors took the lead for good on Bertolina's layup with 1:16 to go.
McClendon's transition layup gave the Saints a 57-53 advantage with 48 seconds left.
Gordon ended an 0-for-8 Bearcat shooting slump when she made a contested basket off the glass to cut their deficit to 57-55 with 35 seconds to go.
McClendon continued Flagler's perfect night from the line, making two free throws for a 59-55 advantage with 23 seconds left.
The Saints' 17-for-17 night from the stripe ended when Bertolina missed a pair with 13 seconds to go.
Johnson-Kelly made two free throws, pulling Lander within 59-57 with 8.8 seconds left. McCormick made only one of two free throws as Flagler led 60-57 with seven seconds to go, opening the door for the Bearcats to tie with a 3-pointer.
Bertolina blocked Santoro's 3-point attempt in the left corner out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left. Lander had another try for a game-tying trey, but Santoro's next attempt fell short as the buzzer sounded.
Lander hits the road this weekend as they travel to Americus, Ga. to take on Georgia Southwestern for a rare Saturday 5:30 PM tip-off at the Storm Dome.
