CHAPEL HILL – The UNCP men's basketball team gave No. 1 North Carolina all it could handle through the first 16:02 of the ballgame, but the Tar Heels used their speed and size advantage to run to a 100-58 victory in an exhibition matchup at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill on Friday evening.

The Braves busted out of the gate with a 10-2 lead the first 3:27 of the contest, and continued to go possession for possession with the top-ranked Tar Heels – pushing the score out to 14-8 with 13:05 to go in the opening half. North Carolina continued to battle its way back with two scores for each one by UNCP, and eventually tied the game up for the first time at 16-16 with 10:24 to go.

The Braves opened up another lead behind a layup by freshman Ben Jacobs and four points by junior Shahmel Brackett to go up 26-18 with 8:52 showing on the clock.

UNC took its first lead of the ballgame, 28-27, at the 6:58 mark on a pair of free throws by senior forward Tyler Zeller. UNCP then battled back to a 32-29 lead on a layup by junior K.J. Cooper and an old fashioned three-point play by senior Mike Robinson with 3:58 to go in the half. Those would be the last three points UNCP would score, however, after UNC closed out the first half on a 14-0 run behind six points by freshman guard P.J. Hairston and a four points by sophomore guard Reggie Bullock.

The Braves, who finished seventh nationally in rebounding margin last season, held a 24-to-21 advantage in rebounding at halftime. However, a 17-of-21 effort on free throws compared to a 4-of-8 performance by UNCP gave the host Tar Heels a 14-point lead at the break despite one less field goal and an even number of 3-point baskets.

The Tar Heels decided to push the tempo and their defensive intensity in the second half in jumping out to a quick 62-36 lead through the first 4:53 of the second half and that lead increased to 81-47 with 7:55 to go in the ballgame.

Brackett led the squad with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting while senior Marcus Heath added 10 on 4-of-13 shooting from the floor. 

Robinson, Nathan Priest, George Blakeney and Jacobs each recorded five rebounds on the night while Heath led the squad with four assists.

UNCP will have one more tune-up before the regular season on Thursday when it hosts Athletes in Action in an exhibition matchup at 7 p.m. in the Jones Center.

Full statistics were not available at the time of publishing.