PEMBROKE, N.C. – Lander withstood a late second half rally from UNC Pembroke to claim a 62-59 road win in the Peach Belt Conference opener for the Bearcats.

Lander improves to 7-2, (1-0) overall with its third consecutive win. UNC Pembroke drops to 5-3, (0-1) on the season.

J.R. Washington led the Bearcats with 18 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. The junior hit eight free throws in 11 attempts on the afternoon. Rahu Purdie scored 14 points, while Matthew McClain added 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Brandon Watts led the Braves with 17 points, while Alex Bradley had 13 points and four steals. Brandon Winford led all players with seven rebounds.

The Bearcats were outrebounded by UNC Pembroke, 35-26, but shot 13-of-24 from the field in the first half to build a 31-26 halftime advantage.

After Taylor Buffkin's three-pointer gave Lander a 49-38 lead with 11:46 left to play, the Braves went on an 8-2 run over the next five minutes to trim the lead to 51-46. The Bearcats pushed the advantage to 56-46 on a Purdie three-pointer and a pair of Washington free throws with 5:17 to go.

Lander held a 60-53 lead with 3:17 to play after a Scott Elder layup, but UNC Pembroke answered with six-point run to make it a one-point game with 1:22 remaining. A pair of free throws from Washington with 1:04 to play made it 62-59 Lander. The Braves had two opportunities to send the game to overtime in the final minute, but Bradley missed a pair of three-pointers to end the contest.

For the game, Lander connected on 22-of-48 field goals (46 percent), including 5-of-15 threes (33 percent), and 13-of-19 free throws (68 percent).

UNC Pembroke was 21-of-51 from the field (41 percent), including 6-of-18 threes (33 percent), and 11-of-19 foul shots (58 percent).