Due West, S.C. – After dropping its first conference match on Monday, the Lander men’s basketball team (2-2) will return to action on Thursday with a road non-conference game against rival Erskine (2-5) at 7:30 p.m.
WATCH: Fleet Sports Network
LIVE STATS: SideArm Stats
SOCIAL: Follow @LUmbbearcats on Twitter for in-game updates
STORYLINES
- Erskine and Lander have met in the last two seasons. The Bearcats won both matchups with last season’s game being decided by a crucial 3-pointer by former PBC First-Team selection JR Washington with 30 seconds remaining. Lander would go on to win by a score of 67-64.
- Junior guardRahu Purdie leads the Bearcats in scoring through the first four games of the season. Purdie scored 27 and 22 points last week against Anderson and Wingate respectively.
- SophomoreNicklas Jonsson has taken a major leap in production through the first four games of the 2017-18 season. The 6’5 Danish guard averaged 5.1 points per game last season. Jonsson poured in a career-high 29 points in a win against Anderson last week while averaging 17.3 points per game.
- The balanced scoring attack of Erskine is led by junior Austin Venable with a respectable 16 points per game.
- Erskine head coach Mark Peeler has achieved a remarkable feat through the first seven games of the season. Peeler has inserted a total of 19 different players into games this season for the Fleet.
- Thursday’s game is the first of a two-game road skid for the Bearcats.
