ST. AUGUSTINE – Vaughn McCall's career-high 27 points were not enough as Flagler College suffered a hard-fought 85-81 loss to Lander University in a Peach Belt Conference East Division men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.

Lander snapped a three-game losing streak to improve to 17-8 overall and 11-5 in the Peach Belt. The Bearcats maintain a two-game lead in the division over Augusta University. Flagler had its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 8-17 overall and 3-13 in conference play.

Today was "Senior Day" at Flagler Gym and before the game the Saints honored their four seniors: Christian Bybjerg, Matt Clark, Keith Gray and Jarrod Widdows.

Flagler got out of the blocks quickly with a 7-0 run and seemed to be on its way to another win. But as quickly as that happened, Lander used a 9-0 spurt midway through the first half to take a 19-17 lead after a Taylor Buffkin 12-foot jumper with 9:43 left to go. The Bearcats never trailed again.

Lander led by as many as 14 (53-39) early in the second half, but had trouble trying to fend off the scrappy Saints. Leading 76-62 with 3:06 left to go, the Bearcats saw their lead dwindle quickly.

A McCall 3-pointer, one of his season-high eight on the day, with 52 seconds left got the Saints to within five (80-75). But the Bearcats had just enough to finish the game out.

Tobiasz Hose scored a team-high 23 points for Lander. He made 11-of-13 free throws and had five steals. Rahu Purdie came off the bench to score 19 points with the help of 4-for-6 shooting from the field and he made all eight free throw attempts. Travis Fredimon added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. JR Washington had 10 points and four assists.

The Bearcats made 81.8% (27-33) of their free throw attempts.

McCall's eight 3-pointers fell just one shy of the program record. Clark added 15 points and five assists in his final home game. Gray recorded his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Jeffercy Jean chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds while Nick Grier tacked on 10 points.

Flagler takes on the University of North Carolina Pembroke on Wednesday (Feb. 17) at 7:30 p.m. at Pembroke.