GREENWOOD – For the second time in 12 days, Lander's David Pruett sent a game into overtime with a dramatic shot. But unfortunately for the Bearcats, they lost both times.

UNC Pembroke made three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the second overtime, outlasting Lander in a wild Peach Belt Conference game 79-73 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

The Braves improved to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in the PBC. Lander fell to 6-8, 1-6.

Jareal Smith led the Bearcats with 23 points and Pruett added 19. Each had only three points at halftime. Scott Elder added 11 points and nine rebounds for Lander, Dermaine Smith had nine points and nine boards, and Jareal Smith had six assists.

Quamain Rose scored six of his 19 points in the second overtime to lead Pembroke. George Blakeney added 16 points and nine rebounds for the Braves, while Griffin Pittman and K.J. Cooper scored 11 points apiece.

Nine of Cooper's points came in the overtime sessions, and Pittman contributed a crucial steal late in double overtime.

The Bearcats made 29 of 68 shots from the floor (43 percent), six of nine free throws (67 percent) and nine of 21 from 3-point range (43 percent).

Pembroke hit 28 of 57 shots (49 percent), 19 of 23 free throws (83 percent) and four of 11 from behind the arc (36 percent) while out-rebounding Lander 42-30.

Trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, Lander was still down 54-49 with 1:31 left. But Pruett hit an open 3-pointer, pulling the Bearcats within two for the first time since the 8:23 mark, making it 54-52 with 1:02 left.

Pembroke's Blakeney missed two free throws with 31.8 seconds left and Lander's Darius Carrier grabbed the defensive rebound. Jareal Smith drove inside the lane, was fouled, and hit the second of two free throws, pulling the Bearcats within 54-53 with 19 seconds left.

Pembroke's Pittman made one free throw but missed the second, leaving the visitors with a 55-53 lead with 18 seconds to go. Pruett grabbed the defensive rebound and called timeout with 12.6 seconds left in regulation.

The Braves played the final possession tough, forcing Pruett to make a difficult shot. But as the buzzer was sounding, Pruett hit an off-balance fall-away jumper from the right side, just inside the arc, to send the game into overtime tied at 55. It was the second time that Pruett had sent a game into overtime with a game-tying shot at home (the other was a loss to Montevallo Jan. 5).

After Cooper gave Pembroke an early advantage in overtime, Pruett banked a 3-pointer to give Lander its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 58-57, with 3:54 to go.

Blakeney made two free throws and Cooper scored again, staking the Braves to a 61-58 lead. But the Bearcats answered again, tying it at 61-all on Carlos Trotty's 3-pointer with 1:45 left.

Dermaine Smith's two free throws gave Lander a 63-61 lead with 1:04 to go. But Pembroke's Ben Jacobs made a tip-in, tying the game at 63 with 31 seconds left.

Playing for the last shot, Lander's Jareal Smith drove hard to the basket but laid his shot too high as it bounced over the backboard with 1.7 seconds left, leading to a second overtime.

Rose converted a three-point play and Cooper scored as the Braves built a 68-63 lead in their first two possessions of the second overtime. Elder's basket pulled the Bearcats within 68-65 with 3:29 left.

Jareal Smith's steal and driving layup closed Lander within a point with 2:49 to go. But Rose hit a 3-pointer, giving Pembroke a four-point lead with 2:13 left.

Dermaine Smith's three-point play pulled Lander back within a point, 71-70, at the 1:40 mark. But Rose banked a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to put the Braves back up by four. Right on cue, Pruett answered with a trey of his own as the Bearcats now trailed 74-73 with 46 seconds left.

Pembroke let the shot clock wind down and got another 3 as the shot clock was expiring, this coming from Cooper at the top of the key to give the Braves a 77-73 lead with 16 seconds to go.

Pruett tried to answer, but Pittman stripped him of the ball, and teammate Brandon Winford added a breakaway bucket in the final seconds.

Elder made a 3-pointer and a layup, staking Lander to an early 7-2 lead. But Pembroke scored the game's next 12 points, including two baskets apiece by Jihad Wright and Blakeney, grabbing a 14-7 lead with 10:51 left.

The Bearcats missed eight consecutive shots before ending a six-plus minute scoring drought on Jareal Smith's 3, cutting Lander's deficit to 14-10 at the 9:30 mark.

Rose's basket, and Blakeney's dunk and layup helped the Braves double the score with a 20-10 lead with 5:21 left.

The Bearcats were only 4-for-21 from the floor before Pruett's 3 and Trotty's steal and layup that pulled Lander within 20-15 at the five-minute mark. It was Trotty's first points of his Bearcats career as the junior point guard played by far the most significant minutes of his career.

Trotty's tough layup closed Lander within a possession at 20-17 with 3:05 to go, capping a 7-0 run. Jamal Branco scored from the right side to pull the Bearcats within 24-22 at the 1:25 mark. The Braves held on to that 24-22 lead into halftime.

Pembroke opened the second half with a 12-2 run as Rose had two baskets, an assist and two free throws, giving the Braves their largest lead of the game at 36-24 with 15:33 to go.

Jareal Smith's driving layup with 13:49 left was only Lander's second basket of the second half, closing the Bearcats within 10 at 36-26.

But Wright banked a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring, giving Pembroke its largest lead of the game at 39-26 with 13:11 to go.

Pruett's 3 from the left side, and a pair of baskets in the paint by Jareal Smith pulled Lander within single figures at 43-35 with 10:13 left. Dermaine Smith answered two Winford free throws for a 45-37 deficit at the 9:28 mark.

Elder made a long hook shot, was fouled, and converted a three-point play, closing the Bearcats within 45-40 with 8:45 left. Jareal Smith's 3 pulled Lander within a possession at 45-43 with 8:23 to go, capping a 17-6 run.

Blakeney and Jacobs made four of four free throws, extending Pembroke's lead to 49-43 with 6:16 left.

Jareal Smith's long base-line jumper pulled the Bearcats back within four at 49-45 with 4:50 to go, and his driving layup made it 51-47 with 4:05 left.

But Jacobs hit two free throws for a 53-47 lead with 3:47 left, making Pembroke 14-for-14 at the line.

Jareal Smith hit another fall-away baseline jumper, pulling Lander within 53-49 at the 2:37 mark.

Needing a stop on the defensive end, the Bearcats failed to get rebounds at the 2:09 and 1:44 marks as Pembroke twice earned a fresh shot clock. Jacobs hit one free throw but missed the second – the team's first miss from the stripe – and the Braves led 54-49 with 1:31 to go. But the game was far from over.