GREENWOOD –
Inady Legiste and
Noah Dunn scored 22 points apiece as the Lander Bearcats shot 59 percent from the floor and beat Georgia Southwestern 96-78 Saturday afternoon at Horne Arena.
Lander improved to 12-7 overall, 6-3 in the Peach Belt Conference. The Hurricanes fell to 8-11, 2-7.
The Bearcats are tied for second place in the PBC standings with USC Aiken and USC Beaufort. Columbus State and Augusta lead the conference, each at 7-2.
"Every game matters," Lander coach
Omar Wattad said. "We will learn from this one and prepare for USC Beaufort (Wednesday at Beaufort). This conference is about as even as any I have ever been in. Every game is tough."
Lander made 31 of 53 shots from the floor (59 percent) and 12 of 21 from behind the 3-point line (57 percent).
Legiste made seven of 11 shots and scored 22 points while adding eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Dunn swished five of six from behind the arc, also finishing with 22 points.
Tim Steele also hit five treys out of seven attempts for the Bearcats, winding up with a season-high 17 points.
Jeremiah Holloway added 11 points while sharing team-high honors with six assists.
Torrin Andrews had nine points and also six assists for the Blue and Gold.
Josiah Shackleford led Georgia Southwestern with 17 points while Antewan Webber Jr. and Justin Monden added 14 points apiece.
Lander committed only eight turnovers, just two in the second half.
"We were efficient from the field. We were efficient from 3-point (range) and from the two," Wattad said. "We hit a rut from 3 earlier (in January). We were top three in the nation at the (holiday) break and hit a big rut. I know what these guys can do. But we have to keep shooting them.
Tim Steele had been ice cold and he just hit five of them."
Wattad said the Bearcats were also outstanding in the paint.
"I thought we were relentless touching paint. Paint efficiency is the imperial truth in basketball. The more you touch paint, the better. We were really good at that today," Wattad said.
The Bearcats made six of their first eight shots from the floor including a pair of 3-pointers by Steele as they led 16-5 with 14:47 left in the first half.
Steele stayed hot from behind the arc, making his fourth trey as Lander led 24-11 inside 12 minutes to go.
Jake Tringone took a pass from Dunn on the fast break and converted a layup as the Blue and Gold were up 28-13 at the midway point of the opening half.
The Hurricanes pulled within seven, but Dunn helped the Bearcats extend their lead to 42-27 with 2:29 left on his second 3-pointer in as many possessions.
Lander led 46-38 at halftime as Steele (12), Dunn (11) and Holloway (10) all scored in double figures.
Both teams were hot to start the second half. Nobody missed a shot of any kind until Georgia Southwestern's Matt Ansah missed a free throw with 15:23 left in the game. Both teams were 5-for-5 from the floor and perfect at the stripe (Lander 4-for-4, GSW 3-for-3) until Ansah's miss. Dunn's missed shot in the paint with 15:03 left ended the combined 10-for-10 start from the floor as the Bearcats led 61-51.
Dunn's 3-pointer from the right wing gave Lander a 69-54 advantage with 12:36 to go.
Dunn's trey from the left corner was his fifth of the afternoon as the Bearcats led 74-59 with 11:10 left.
The Hurricanes were within single digits for several minutes. But Andrews followed up a teammate's miss with a bucket in the paint, pushing Lander's lead to 85-73 with 4:44 left.
Legiste's layup completed a 9-0 Bearcats run as the advantage grew to 90-73 with 2:30 to go.
Sebastian Augustave's 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Blue and Gold a 95-75 advantage at the 1:08 mark.
