West Bladen grad Rahu Purdie fired in 11 points Wednesday night, but his Lander University Bearcats lost a non-conference basketball game to Paine College 98-88.
Purdie connected on 4 of 8 shots from the field, was 1 for 2 from 3-point range and sank both of his foul shots. The 5-9 freshman dished out 3 assists and grabbed 3 rebounds.
The White Oak native corralled a defensive rebound and sent an assist to teammate J. R. Washington for a lay-up and an early 5-3 Bearcat lead. Later in the half, Purdie pumped in a jump shot to pull Lander within 34-31.
The Bearcats led 45-44 at the half, but after the Paine Lions went up 46-45, the Bearcats drained three straight 3-point shots with Purdie dishing an assist to Washington that set up the second 3-ball then firing in the third 3-pointer for a 54-49 lead.
Paine went back on top 62-58, but Purdie pumped in a jump shot to trim the margin to 62-60 with 12:32 left to play.
Denzel Dillingham threw in 3 straight 3-point shots to stretch the Paine lead to 71-60 and the Bearcats never got closer than 8 points after that.
Lander is now 9-3 on the season and will resume Peach Belt Conference play Saturday at 3:30 when the Bearcats host Flagler.
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