GREENWOOD – The first-place Lander Bearcats rode a hot-shooting first half to a 91-74 Peach Belt Conference victory over Flagler on Senior Day Saturday at Horne Arena.
Dylan Canoville and former student-manager
Breon Steele sparked the victory.
Lander improved to 17-5 overall and 12-3 in the Peach Belt ahead of Monday's showdown at second-place USC Beaufort.
The Saints fell to 15-9 overall, 9-7 in the PBC.
The Blue and Gold made 16 of 22 shots from the floor in the first half (72 percent) including seven of eight from behind the 3-point arc (86 percent) on its way to a 54-37 halftime lead.
The Bearcats started four seniors including Canoville,
Antewan Webber Jr.,
Tommy Moore and also Steele making his first LU start and delivering one of the team's best dunks of the season in the second half.
Jake Tringone was the fifth starter.
Lander's typical starters
Jacob Daniels,
Greyson Pritzl,
Navaughn Maise,
Terry Leonard Jr. and
Bobby Crawford Jr. entered the game at the 14-minute mark.
Canoville paced the Bearcats with 22 points and nine rebounds while also collecting three steals.
Webber added 11 points and four steals for Lander, Pritzl scored 11 points, and Moore and Maise added 10 points apiece.
Steele finished with nine points including a pair of dunks while grabbing seven rebounds. Daniels also had nine points and four assists.
Tariq Daughton led the Saints with a game-high 27 points, making 13 of 14 free throws.
"I'm very proud of the seniors. All four played very well," LU head coach
Omar Wattad said. "Breon really deserves his flowers. He was our manager two years ago and boy was he an elite one (manager).
"Whatever we asked him to do, whether on-the-court assistance or every single food order, operational work and other stuff he was doing. He was phenomenal. After that, I knew he would be good in life. He is an elite human. He wanted to play but he messed up his back and ankle."
Steele asked to walk on and Wattad quickly said yes.
"I'm super happy for him," Wattad said. "He was awesome. DC (Canoville), Twan (Webber) and T-Mo (Moore) were all really good as well. They all come off the bench. They all sacrificed a lot this year. They are all humble enough to do what's best for the team."
This game was never in doubt as Lander scored the first 12 points of the game.
Steele made a 3-pointer from the right corner, Canoville intercepted a pass near the circle on the defensive end and outran two Flagler defenders for a slam dunk. Steele also intercepted a pass at the same spot and dunked.
Moore made two free throws and then Webber swished a 3-pointer, giving the Bearcats a 12-0 lead with 17 minutes left in the opening half.
Webber made another 3-pointer and then collected a back-court steal, hit a mid-range shot off the glass, was fouled and converted the three-point play helping Lander build a 20-4 advantage.
Steele made two free throws, giving the Bearcats their largest lead of the first half at 23 points, 38-15, with 7:30 to go.
The Saints finally began heating up behind Daughton's 16 first-half points. But Pritzl made three 3-pointers to keep Lander comfortably ahead.
The Blue and Gold led 54-37 at halftime.
After a 3-pointer cut Flagler's deficit to under 15 at 54-40, the Bearcats went back to work. Canoville scored twice inside and after a period of cold shooting, Lander scored seven unanswered for a 67-40 lead.
Webber stepped around a defender in the lane and made a short jumper, Moore drained a long 3-pointer from the right side, and then Steele made one of the most impressive Bearcat dunks of the season. He took a pass from Webber from the PBC logo in front of the free-throw line and went airborne from there for the flush, making it 67-40 with 13:43 left.
Daughton's free throws pulled Flagler back within 14 points again at 69-55 with 8:11 to go.
But the Blue and Gold regained control as Daniels scored the team's next seven points with a pair of driving layups and three free throws. Then Canoville collected a steal near the sideline and made a driving dunk, giving Lander an 80-58 advantage with 5:57 left.
Canoville grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled behind the back and delivered a pass to Tringone in transition for a dunk as the Bearcats led 86-66 with 2:30 to go.
