COLUMBUS, Ga. - The Lander men's basketball team dropped a 98-63 decision to Columbus State on Saturday afternoon in the Bearcats' first road conference game of the season.

The Bearcats (2-4, 0-2 PBC) trailed by 23 at halftime and could not slow down a Columbus State (1-3, 1-0 PBC) team that shot 64.3 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Rahu Purdie netted 11 points, while freshman Zane Rankin tallied a career-high 11 points in just 19 minutes of action. Srdjan Ivic grabbed a team-high four rebounds.

After a slow start, the Bearcats posted 40 second-half points, but couldn't find a way to cool down the Cougars, who netted 52 points over the final 20 minutes en route to their highest-scoring output of the season.

Lander will look to regroup next Saturday at 3:30 when the Bearcats host Livingstone in non-conference action at Finis Horne Arena.