West Bladen grad Rahu Purdie popped in the jumper that sent the game to overtime and finished with 23 points as his Lander Bearcats defeated Paine College 97-92 in Augusta, GA Tuesday.
Purdie connected on 8 of 17 shots from the field and was 3 for 6 from 3-point range. The White Oak native sank all 4 of his free thrown attempts, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 4 assists and came up with 4 steals.
The freshman guard drained a pair of 3-point shots in the first half and made both of his free throw attempts. However the Bearcats trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and were behind 49-40 at halftime.
Purdie canned 2 free throws, a jump shot and a lay-up to pull the Bearcats to within 78-73 with 5:17 remaining in regulation. Another Purdie jumper whittled the margin to 80-78 with 3:11 on the clock.
Purdie nailed his game-tying jump shot with six seconds left, then bombed in a pair of 3-point shots to put Lander ahead 90-89 in the overtime period.
Paine pulled even at 92-92, but Sergio Smith’s jumper with 28 seconds on the clock put Lander ahead to stay.
Lander improved to 4-1 with the win and will host he Finis Horne Holiday Classic Friday and Saturday. Participating teams include Lenoir Rhyne, Livingstone and St Andrews.
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