GREENWOOD, SC - Lander University placed five players in double figures and the first-place Bearcats cruised to an 86-68 victory over Francis Marion University, Wednesday evening (Feb. 14) in Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball action at Horne Arena.

Lander (15-9, 9-4) maintains its North Division lead over USC Upstate, while the Patriots fall to 8-16 overall and 4-9 in the PBC.

Senior guard Dominic Bishop led Francis Marion with 20 points, his fourth 20-point effort in the past five games, while senior 6-6 forward Raymond Dorsey added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Curtis Milner paced Lander with 14 points and six blocked shots, while grabbing seven rebounds. Milner made 6-of-8 shots from the floor. Jason Davis also scored 14 points for the Bearcats, while dishing out six assists. Michael Griffin and Dane Sparrow added 13 points apiece, and Zach Evans scored 11.

The Bearcats built on a 12-point halftime advantage (39-27) with the first five points of the second half to lead 44-27. Francis Marion trimmed the margin to 14 points three times, before Lander blew the game open with a 9-0 run on a three-point play by Davis and 3-pointers by Sparrow and Evans. The resulting 59-36 advantage (with 13 minutes to go) would be the Bearcats' largest lead of the game.

The Patriots scored five unanswered points to pull back within 18 points, but Sparrow hit three free throws and a 3-pointer to push Lander's lead back to 21 points (65-44) with 9:21 remaining.

Francis Marion got to within 15 points, 69-54, with 5:50 left on Rodrick Burton's put-back. However, Evans hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the margin to 80-60 with 3:30 to go, and Davis hit a 3-pointer with two minutes left to give the Bearcats an 86-65 cushion.

After falling behind 8-2 to open the contest, Lander took the lead for good with 11 unanswered points on Griffin's three-point play, Sparrow's basket, and 3-pointers by Jackson and Griffin to make it 13-8.

Francis Marion pulled to within 21-19 on Burton's basket with 8:43 left in the first half, but Lander responded with a 10-2 run, building the lead to 31-21 on Milner's basket with 4:29 to go. The Bearcats maintained the double-figure lead and were up 39-27 at the intermission.

Lander made 28 of 59 shots from the floor (48 percent), 11 of 25 from 3-point range (44 percent), and 19 of 21 free throws (91 percent). Francis Marion hit 25 of 69 shots from the field (36 percent), six of 16 from behind the arc (38 percent), and 12 of 15 free throws (80 percent). The Bearcats outrebounded Francis Marion 44-34.

Francis Marion will celebrate Homecoming 2007 on Saturday when the Patriots entertain Georgia College & State University at 4 p.m.