GREENWOOD – Dylan Canoville and
Jacob Daniels combined for 44 points as the Lander Bearcats outscored Clayton State 53-33 in the second half, winning the Peach Belt Conference game 89-73 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 7-2 overall, 2-1 in the Peach Belt. The Lakers fell to 0-9, 0-3 in the PBC.
Canoville went 6-for-6 from the floor and 11-for-12 from the free-throw line, leading all scorers with 23 points. Canoville also led the Bearcats with eight rebounds, seven on the defensive end. The senior forward added four steals and two blocked shots.
Freshman guard Daniels tied a career high with 21 points, making seven of nine shots from the floor including three of four from behind the arc. He led Lander with five assists and four steals.
Terry Leonard Jr. added 15 points for the Blue and Gold.
Greyson Pritzl contributed eight points and three steals.
Senior guard
Tommy Moore played for the first time since March 2024, getting seven minutes of action for the Bearcats.
"That is a talented group," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said of Clayton State. "I'm happy to get that W. It was a really good second half."
"We started guarding and started doing the things we weren't doing in the first half," Wattad said of the second half surge. "We were cutting, moving the ball a little more and getting to the cup."
"It's very impressive for a freshman to be able to be that consistent," Wattad said of Daniels. "He was phenomenal. Dylan was outstanding. He came in and was an immediate spark.
"I'm super happy for Tommy," Wattad said of Moore's return.
Jojo Bell led Clayton State with 19 points, Joe Thomas scored 17 points on six of six shooting, DJ Wright added 16 points and Andre Young 12.
The Bearcats trailed 20-18 with nine minutes left in the opening half. Lander's highlights were seven points each from Canoville and Daniels. Canoville was on the receiving end of alley-oop dunk passes from both Daniels and Pritzl.
Pritzl and
Navaughn Maise kept the Blue and Gold within one score, each making 3-pointers as the hosts trailed 27-26 inside the seven-minute mark.
Bell's 3-pointer gave the Lakers their biggest lead of the first half at 37-30 with four minutes to go.
Canoville brought Lander back within a possession, taking a defensive rebound coast to coast for a layup and almost repeating the feat before being fouled and making both free throws making it 37-34.
The Bearcats trailed 40-36 at the break, getting 11 points apiece in the first half from Canoville and Daniels.
Lander opened the second half with seven unanswered points to take a 43-40 lead. Daniels made a 3-pointer, Leonard dunked off an under-hand lob pass from Daniels, and
Bobby Crawford Jr. dunked off a bounce pass from Pritzl. The Blue and Gold would not trail again.
After Clayton State pulled within 47-46, Leonard made a mid-range jumper and a short floater, and Pritzl swished a 3-pointer as the hosts led 54-46 with 12:22 left.
Leonard's 3-pointer and a pair of Canoville free throws helped the Bearcats up their lead to 60-51 with 8:37 remaining. Antewan Webber Jr's long 3-pointer from well behind the top of the key made it 63-54.
Lander took its first double-figure lead at 65-54 with 6:48 left when Canoville scooped a loose ball off the floor on the defensive end and drove all the way for a two-handed dunk.
The lead increased to 15 on Webber's lay-in, making it 74-59 with 4:40 to go.
Canoville added six more points while
Jake Tringone and Leonard each scored four points apiece down the stretch as the Bearcats continued to pull away.
