November 8, 1998
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Boilermakers survived a poor shooting night to earn their 15th consecutive exhibition win with a hard-fought 74-71 victory over the National Team of Estonia Sunday evening. Purdue will open regular season play on Friday when they host UNC-Asheville in Mackey Arena at 8:00 pm EST.
Purdue was led by juniors Brian Cardinal and Jaraan Cornell who each scored 15 points apiece, with Cardinal adding a team-high eight rebounds. Although the Boilermakers would dominate on the offensive boards, grabbing 21 rebounds compared to only three for Estonia, Purdue never did find its shooting touch, connecting on only 39.1% (27-of-69) of their field goals. Purdue really never got into the flow of the game as Keady substituted frequently in search of the right combination of players. With the start of the regular season just five days away, Keady is still searching for the right chemistry of players, as seven Boilers tallied 15-plus minutes while two more logged at least 11. Purdue would commit 16 turnovers in the contest, as compared to 28 for Estonia.
Estonia couldn't miss early on as they jumped out to an early 12-6 lead. The Boilers responded with a 9-2 run to take a 15-14 lead just two minutes later behind a pair of treys by Cornell and one by Cardinal. After a free throw by Estonia's Ronald Bayless tied the score at 20 with 10 minutes left in the half, a made bucket by senior Alan Eldridge a running layup by sophomore Carson Cunningham gave the Boilers a 30-24 lead, their biggest of the half. Both teams would exchange baskets over the final five minutes with Purdue holding a 34-29 at the break. Estonia connected on 12-of-19 (.632) field goals in the first 20 minutes, including four-of-seven three pointers.
The Boilers opened the second stanza with an 8-0 run in the first three minutes behind five points from Cardinal to open up a 42-30 advantage. After Eldridge drained a three to give Purdue it's biggest lead of the ballgame at 53-39 with nine minutes left, Estonia would go on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to five. Although a 10-3 run by Purdue opened up 12-point lead with four minutes to play, Estonia refused to go quietly. A three-pointer by guard Gert Kullamae capped an 11-2 run that cut the lead to three at the 2:08 mark. Although a layup by Cardinal with 1:15 to play gave the Boilers an eight-point lead, Estonia managed to pull within three at 74-71 before time ran out.