GREENWOOD – The Lander Bearcats remained in first place in the Peach Belt Conference's East Division despite suffering their third consecutive league loss, falling 78-77 to UNC Pembroke Wednesday night at Horne Arena.

Lander fell to 16-8 overall, 10-5 in the PBC. The Braves improved to 13-11, 7-8.

JR Washington paced the Bearcats with 24 points and six rebounds. Travis Fredimon had eight consecutive Lander points down the stretch to keep the hosts in the game, finishing with 17 points on seven of 11 shooting from the floor while leading the team with five assists.

Rahu Purdie added 14 points on five of six shooting, including three of four from 3-point range. Tobiasz Hose added 10 points for the Bearcats while Scott Elder had a pair of blocked shots.

UNC Pembroke's Alex Bradley led all scorers with 25 points, making seven of 12 shots from the floor including five of seven from behind the arc.

Brandon Watts added 15 points and two blocked shots, James Murray-Boyles scored 12 points, Jahid Wright added 11 points, and Brandon Winford contributed nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds as the Braves out-rebounded Lander 36-25. Bradley and Wright led Pembroke with four assists apiece.

The Bearcats made 27 of 52 shots from the floor (52 percent), 13 of 17 free throws (77 percent) and 10 of 21 from 3-point territory (48 percent).

UNC Pembroke hit 29 of 57 shots (51 percent), 13 of 21 from the stripe (62 percent) and seven of 16 from behind the arc (44 percent).

There were six ties and 13 lead changes in the game's first 14-plus minutes as neither team was up by more than three points.

C.J. Miller's 3 gave UNC Pembroke its last lead of the first half at 26-24 with 6:56 left.

Purdie's layup produced the sixth tie of the game at 26-all, and the Bearcats regained a lead that they would not relinquish in the first half on Elder's free throw, making it 27-26 with 5:44 to go.

Lander took its largest lead of the first half when Fredimon hit a 3 from the right corner off a pass from under the basket by Matthew McClain, followed by Purdie's 3 for a 36-28 advantage with 2:08 to go. It would be the team's biggest lead of the night.

Wright's layup with just under a minute left pulled the Braves within 38-35 at the halftime break.

The lead changing trend resumed early in the second half as Wright's layup gave UNC Pembroke a 39-38 lead, Washington's 3 put the Bearcats back on top, then Bradley's 3 moved the Braves ahead 42-41 at the 17-minute mark.

A steal and fast-break dunk by Watts gave UNC Pembroke a 45-43 lead with 15:30 to go, and Tyler Kordenbrock's jumper in the paint gave the Braves their largest lead of the game to that point at 47-43.

Bradley's long-range 3 gave UNC Pembroke a 53-49 advantage with 11:11 left.

Washington put back a missed dunk, and a minute later drove inside for a game-tying layup, making it 55-all with 8:44 to go.

Purdie's 3 from in front of the Lander bench gave the hosts a 58-56 lead with 7:33 left.

Fredimon's three-point play put the Bearcats on top, 61-58, but Bradley hit back-to-back 3s to give UNC Pembroke a 64-61 advantage with 5:31 to go. Bradley added two free throws for Pembroke's biggest lead of the game at 66-61 with 4:29 left.

A layup by Murray-Boyles pushed the Braves lead to seven with 3:31 to go.

Fredimon rallied Lander within three by making a jumper from the free-throw line, then collecting a steal and layup, making it 70-67 with 2:11 left. Fredimon answered Winford's layup with a jumper, pulling the Bearcats within 72-69 with 1:26 to go.

Pembroke's Watts made a pair of free throws, then Fredimon answered yet again with a basket cutting the score to 74-71 at the minute mark.

The Braves ran the clock down and Murray-Boyles missed a shot, but Winford grabbed the offensive rebound, Bradley was fouled and made both free throws for a 76-71 lead with 28 seconds left.

After a Lander turnover, Bradley could have put the game away from the line but missed both free throws. Washington responded with a 3, pulling the Bearcats within 76-74 with nine seconds to go.

But Bradley was fouled again and this time put the game away with a pair of free throws, making it 78-74 with five seconds left. Purdie's 3 at the buzzer left Lander with a one-point loss.