GREENWOOD – Greyson Pritzl and
Dylan Canoville combined for 39 points as the first-place Lander Bearcats dominated Peach Belt Conference rival Georgia Southwestern 84-62 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
Lander outscored the Hurricanes 32-13 over the final 10 minutes of the first half to blow the game open, improving to 19-5 overall and 14-3 in the Peach Belt. Columbus State is in second place in the PBC at 13-5.
It was Lander's third victory in five days.
Georgia Southwestern fell to 16-9 overall, 9-8 in the conference. The Blue and Gold avenged a 71-68 loss to GSW in Americus, Ga., on Jan. 7.
Pritzl made six of 10 shots from the floor and all six of his free throws, leading the Bearcats with 21 points.
Canoville was 8-for-11 from the floor including three consecutive dunks in the second half, finishing with 18 points for Lander.
There were several more solid contributors for the Bearcats.
Terry Leonard Jr. scored 12 points.
Jacob Daniels added eight points and six rebounds while leading Lander with seven assists.
Antewan Webber Jr. and
Navaughn Maise added eight points apiece for the Bearcats while
Bobby Crawford Jr. had seven points and three blocked shots.
Deonte Williams paced Georgia Southwestern with 18 points while Amir Reaves added 15 points.
Leading 16-14, the Bearcats scored 12 unanswered points on their way to a game-breaking 21-3 run.
Pritzl made a 3-pointer and two layups, Daniels scored twice on drives into the paint, and Leonard converted a three-point play during the run as Lander's lead grew to 37-17 with 4:40 left.
Canoville scored three times in the paint while Leonard made a high arcing 3-pointer from the left side, helping the Bearcats extend their advantage to 48-27 at halftime.
Lander made 18 of 28 shots in the first half (64 percent) but cooled off in the second half.
Pritzl made his third 3-pointer of the game, staking the Blue and Gold to a 55-32 lead with 14:50 left.
Webber swished a 3-pointer from the left corner as Lander's advantage grew to 60-32 with 13:25 to go.
Daniels assisted on back-to-back Canoville dunks as the Bearcats led 76-49 with 6:27 left.
Canoville hop stepped to the goal for another slam and Leonard added a jumper from behind the free-throw line, giving Lander an 82-53 advantage at the four-minute mark.
