PBC YEARBOOK
Men’s Basketball
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Lander men’s basketball win PBC Tournament championship!
COLUMBUS, Ga. – On Oct. 30, 2015, the Peach Belt Conference coaches
poll was announced and the Lander Bearcats were picked to finish
12th out of 14 teams. A little more than four months later, after
leading the PBC East Division wire-to-wire, Lander was cutting down
the nets as PBC Tournament champions.
The Bearcats earned an automatic berth into the 2016 NCAA
Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament, outlasting Augusta University
87-86 on JR Washington’s dramatic put-back with two seconds left in
double overtime Sunday afternoon.
The victory at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center gave the school its
first Peach Belt Tournament championship since 2007.
Lander, which also won the Peach Belt in 1994 and ‘95, enters
the NCAA Tournament with a 22-9 record under first-year head coach
Steve Roberts.
Peach Belt East runner-up Augusta fell to 18-11, likely ending its
season.
Washington won Tournament MVP and Lander freshman Rahu
2015-16
Purdie made the all-tournament team.
Purdie led the Bearcats with a career-high 24 points on eight of
10 shooting from the floor. Washington added a double-double with 20
points and 10 rebounds along with five steals. But he was only 6-for-19
from the floor and 3-for-10 from 3-point range, making his game-winning shot all the sweeter.
Tobiasz Hose also had 20 points for Lander while Travis Fredimon
added 13 points and five assists.
Keshun Sherrill paced Augusta with 27 points, and Tommy Williams had a double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds as he made
12 of 14 free throws, most of them late in the game. Travis Foreman
added 10 points for the Jaguars.
Lander made 27 of 63 shots (43 percent) from the floor, nine of 18
from behind the arc (50 percent) and 24 of 33 free throws (73 percent)
while being outrebounded 45-35.
Augusta made 27 of 61 shots (44 percent), eight of 22 from
3-point range (36 percent) and 24 of 37 from the stripe (63 percent).
Hose’s basket gave Lander an 81-78 lead with 3:24 left in the
second overtime. But Sherrill made a 3, tying the game at 81-all at the
3:03 mark. Sherrill hit one of two free throws, giving the Jaguars the
lead with 2:32 to go.
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