GREENWOOD - Lander scored 72 points in the paint led by
Dylan Canoville's 27 points as the Bearcats dominated Peach Belt Conference opponent USC Beaufort 103-74 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander put the game away with a 35-7 first-half run, improving to 6-2 overall, 1-1 in the Peach Belt. The Sand Sharks fell to 6-3, 0-2.
Canoville made 11 of 13 shots from the floor and added 10 rebounds to complete a double-double for the Bearcats. The senior forward had six offensive boards, three steals and a blocked shot.
"He's an all-conference caliber player," Lander head coach
Omar Wattad said of Canoville. "He has the mindset and is really locked in."
Antewan Webber Jr. also had a big game for the Blue and Gold with 16 points on seven of 11 shooting, eight rebounds and six steals.
Jacob Daniels added 13 points, seven assists and two steals for the Bearcats.
Terry Leonard Jr. also scored 13 points for Lander while
Navaughn Maise added 11 points on five of five shooting.
Jake Tringone contributed 10 points for the Blue and Gold.
The Bearcats made 44 of 72 shots from the floor (61 percent), scoring most all their points in the paint (37 baskets inside, seven 3-pointers). Thirty offensive rebounds helped Lander's cause.
"We had a lot of paint opportunities. That is kind of how it played out," Wattad said.
Keyshawn Price scored 19 points for USC Beaufort, which made 29 of 72 shots (40 percent) and were out-rebounded 44-32.
The Bearcats immediately attacked the paint in the opening half, scoring their first 25 points of the game in the paint or at the free-throw line.
Canoville led the early charge in the paint, scoring 11 of his team's 13 points as Lander broke an 8-all deadlock with a game-breaking run which kept growing and growing.
Canoville broke the tie with two free throws, made an off-balance shot in the lane through traffic resulting in a three-point play, and added two put-backs as the Blue and Gold led 21-10.
And that was just the beginning of a long Bearcats run. Daniels and Tringone made layups before Webber hit Lander's first 3-pointer, making it 28-13 with 9:25 until halftime.
Webber followed up his 3-pointer with a back-court steal and layup, Maise swished a 3-pointer from the left corner, and
Bobby Crawford Jr. took a pass from his high school teammate Daniels for a dunk as the Bearcats were on their way to an insurmountable 43-15 advantage with 6:17 left.
Lander's run reached 35-7 over a stretch of nine minutes and 14 seconds. The Bearcats made 15 of 23 shots (65 percent) during the run, while USC Beaufort was three for 14 shooting (21 percent) with nine turnovers.
Leonard made a 3-pointer and then Daniels closed the half with a driving layup as Lander led 57-26 at the intermission.
Seth Cullen's three-point play pulled the Sand Sharks within 61-36 with 14:52 left before the Blue and Gold caught fire once again.
Canoville was on the receiving end of two alley-oop passes for dunks, one from Webber and the other from Daniels. Webber and Daniels added 3-pointers during a 12-2 Bearcats run, which included five for five shooting as the lead grew to 73-38 with 13 minutes to go.
The play-making of Daniels led to two more baskets as he escaped back-court pressure with a long pass to Webber for a layup and completed a no-look pass to Maise for another easy bucket as Lander's lead grew to 83-54 with eight minutes left.
Leonard's 3-pointer and Maise's reverse layup pushed the Bearcats to the 90-point plateau with six minutes still remaining.
Leonard made another trey, Webber tipped-in a teammate's missed free throw, Canoville had another put-back, and then Canoville dunked for Lander's 100th point with 2:40 to go.
Desmond Evans added a basket for the Bearcats while
Breon Steele contributed one free throw and a blocked shot in the final two minutes.
Jaden Miller and
Bryce Edwards also got into the game for Lander.
