ST. AUGUSTINE –
Derrick Ellis, Jr. led four Flagler College players in double figure points with 19 to go along with six assists and four steals in an 81-70 victory over Lander University in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Flagler Gymnasium.
Flagler, ranked No. 23 in the latest NABC Division II Top 25, won its sixth game in a row and improved to 16-3 overall as well as 9-1 in the Peach Belt. Lander dropped to 9-10 overall and 4-6 in conference play.
"I thought our guys did a nice job adjusting to the game and we shared the ball well," said head coach
Chad Warner. "We thought it was important to get off to a fast start and our guys responded."
The Saints scored the game's first eight points and never trailed.
Flagler held a commanding 45-29 lead at the half and led by as many as 18 (49-31) early in the second half.
Lander went on a 16-4 run to trim the deficit to six (53-47) with 12:24 left to go, but that was as close as the Bearcats would get.
They trailed again by double-digits before pulling to within seven (77-70) after a Jared Sherfield three-pointer with 1:42 remaining.
Flagler's
Jaizec Lottie and
Jalen Barr each made a pair of free throws to wrap up the game. The Saints made 20-of-22 from the free throw line.
Lottie finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Barr added 12 points and eight rebounds while
Spencer Bain came off the bench to provide 11 points, which tied his season high.
Dominic Stanford led Lander with 19 points while Sherfield added 18 points and eight rebounds. Deandre Robinson and Nigel Colvin each contributed 11 points.
Flagler hits the road to take on Georgia College on Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Milledgeville.
Be the first to know what's going on with the Saints -- Follow @FlaglerSports on Twitter, follow FlaglerSports on Instagram, become a fan of Flagler College Athletics on Facebook and subscribe to the Flagler College Athletics e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and to interact with Flagler Athletics.
