MORROW, Ga. – Navaughn Maise poured in 18 points on a perfect shooting night, five Bearcats finished in double figures, and the Lander men's basketball team made it six wins in a row with Wednesday night's 88-72 victory at Clayton State inside The Loch.
Maise went 6 for 6 from the floor including a pair of 3-pointers while tacking on four free throws for a new season-high. He also snared a team-best seven rebounds in a noteworthy performance.
Dylan Canoville contributed 15 points, six rebounds and a trio of blocks on a 6-of-11 shooting night, and
Antewan Webber Jr. matched him in the scoring department with a pair of 3s and a 5-of-7 shooting spread from the floor.
Bobby Crawford Jr. tied his season-best of 14 points to go along with three blocks as
Jacob Daniels finished with 12 points and eight assists.
Lander (15-4, 10-2 Peach Belt) grabbed a 6-5 lead in the first half and never looked back against Clayton State (2-18, 1-11 Peach Belt).
Back-to-back triples from Maise made it 18-7 Cats just seven minutes into the game.
Despite the Lakers narrowing the gap to 23-19, LU scored on three straight possessions to restore a double-digit lead.
The Blue and Gold held a commanding 48-27 lead at the half thanks to a red-hot opening 20 minutes where they shot 63% overall (17/27) and at a 57.1% clip from downtown (4/7).
Maise tallied 13 points by halftime, Webber, 10.
Daniels' make at the 16:00 mark of the second half gave the Bearcats their largest lead of the night at 31 points, 60-29.
The margin was still 30 after
Breon Steele slammed one home for an 88-58 lead with three minutes to go.
LU finished the night shooting 54% (34/63) and scored a whopping 58 points in the paint. The Cats also assisted on 15 of their buckets.
Defensively, Lander forced Clayton State into 15 turnovers that turned into 20 points. They held the Lakers to just over 45% shooting (28/62) and only 28.6% from long-range (6/21).
This Saturday afternoon marks a battle of the current No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference when the Bearcats travel to play the Sand Sharks of USC Beaufort in a 3:30 tip.
