GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats out-rebounded Erskine 50-22 and slammed nine dunks during an impressive 95-50 non-conference victory over the Flying Fleet Monday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 3-1 on the season.
The Bearcats dominated the boards, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds to only five for Erskine. Lander outscored the Fleet 29-0 in points off turnovers.
Dylan Canoville and
Terry Leonard Jr. paced the Bearcats with 16 points apiece. Canoville delivered four dunks and also blocked two shots.
Antewan Webber Jr. scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and led Lander with three steals.
Bobby Crawford Jr. added a double-double for the Blue and Gold with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Jacob Daniels added seven points while leading LU with five assists.
Freshmen
Breon Steele and
Desmond Evans joined in the fun during the second half, scoring a combined 13 points as they each scored their first collegiate points.
KD Gordon led Erskine with 12 points. Teammate Ruben Salazar had three blocked shots.
"We were locked in," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said. "I don't think we were locked in Saturday (in a loss to Carson-Newman) like we should have been."
Wattad added, "We showed some maturation (against Erskine). One of those signs was what do you do when you are the superior opponent and you're up a lot of points at halftime (25 points). I was proud of what we did. We kept the foot on the gas and did what we are supposed to do."
Lander blew the game open with a 17-0 run over a seven-plus minute stretch in the first half, turning a 6-3 deficit into a 20-6 lead with 10:48 left until halftime.
Leonard collected a steal and driving layup to start the run and then gave the Bearcats the lead for good with a jumper near the free-throw line.
Navaughn Maise turned a steal into a layup, and Canoville delivered a bounce pass back door to Maise for another layup.
Webber turned Lander's third offensive rebound of the next possession into a put-back, Leonard nailed a 3-pointer, Daniels turned a steal into a one-handed dunk, and Leonard found
Jake Tringone inside for a layup to complete the 17-0 run.
Andrei Kyle Honrada hit a mid-range shot to end the Flying Fleet's scoring drought. The Blue and Gold hit eight of 13 shots during the run while Erskine was 0 for 5.
Leonard started another Bearcats run with a pair of 3-pointers and converted a steal into a driving layup. Canoville dunked off a pass from Webber, Crawford laid in a put-back, Daniels made two free throws, and Webber drained a 3-pointer making it 37-10 with six minutes to go.
Then Canoville took over for a stretch, flushing a pair of emphatic dunks and adding two layups increasing Lander's lead to 45-18 at the two-minute mark.
Greyson Pritzl added a 3-pointer as the Blue and Gold led 49-24 at the intermission. The Bearcats had an amazing 16 offensive rebounds in the opening half.
Crawford opened the second half with eight points inside including a dunk, and Pritzl and Webber added treys as the Bearcats doubled up Erskine 61-30 with 15:40 to go.
Canoville's fourth dunk of the night came off a lob pass from Tringone as Lander led 63-36 at the 14-minute mark.
Tringone added a breakaway dunk and Daniels swished a corner 3, making it 68-36 with 12 minutes left.
Evans scored his first collegiate points when he drained a 3-pointer from the right side, increasing the Blue and Gold's advantage to 76-39 with 8:20 remaining.
Webber and Steele added a big run for Lander. Webber made a 3-pointer, then passed inside to Steele for his first collegiate basket. Steele then emphatically slam dunked a put-back of a teammate's missed 3-point shot, Webber added a steal and breakaway dunk, and Steele drained a trey from the right corner increasing the lead to 88-48 with 4:32 to go.
Evans made his second 3-pointer in the final minute to complete the scoring for the Bearcats.
