GREENWOOD, S.C. – Akia Pruitt converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with a minute to play and Lander hit a potential game-winning 3-pointer off of the front of the rim as time expired as the Braves picked up a key Peach Belt Conference road victory with an 83-81 overtime victory over the Bearcats on Monday in Horne Arena.
 
It was the second road win in as many days for the Braves (17-7, 10-5 PBC) who kept pace in the race for the league's regular season crown. The setback snapped a four-game win streak for the Bearcats (9-13, 6-7) who have now dropped four of the last five in the series with the Black & Gold.
 
Pruitt scored 19 points and pulled down seven boards for the Braves who scored 31 second chance points on the strength of 19 offensive rebounds on the night. Nigel Grant chipped in 17 points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Brandon Watts added 14 before fouling out with less than a minute left in regulation.
 
Rahu Purdie tallied a game-high 21 points to lead the Bearcats who finished the contest with an impressive 11-for-23 clip from the perimeter. Jarryd Coleman and J.R. Washington both turned in 15 points for the hosts as well.
 
The Black & Gold led by nine points, 64-55, after Micah Kinsey's running layup with 9:38 left in regulation, but Telvin Gabriel's lay-in at the other end of the court sparked the hosts on an 11-2 run that helped Lander knot the score back up four minutes later. The game would go back and forth, again, up until the final seconds. Washington hit a pair of free throws to put Lander up by two with 20 seconds left, but Grant's tip-in seconds later sent the game into extra time.
 
Lander connected on eight of their 12 shots from the perimeter in the opening half and led by as many as seven points, 34-27, on Coleman's triple with 4-1/2 minutes left before the break. The Braves made it a two-point game on a layup from Pruitt two minutes later, and trailed by just one point, 41-40, at the break thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Quamain Rose.
 
The Braves will make a quick stop at home again on Wednesday when they suit up to take on PBC co-leader USC Aiken (16-6, 10-5) in the second half of a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.