PEMBROKE – Visiting Lander trimmed an 18-point second half deficit down to just four with 75 seconds left, but home-standing UNCP used timely rebounding, as well as dead-aim free throw shooting, down the stretch to sneak away with a 79-75 win over the Bearcats on Saturday afternoon at the English E. Jones Center.

The triumph helped UNCP (6-3, 1-0 PBC) stretch its win streak out to four, while also giving the Braves their third-straight victory in the series with the Bearcats (3-2, 1-1). The Black & Gold has also booked five-straight victories over its PBC East Division rivals in Pembroke.

Shahmel Brackett scored 15 of his team-best 22 points in the opening half and led four UNCP players with double-figure scoring numbers on the night. Senior Marcus Heath registered 17 points, George Blakeney added 15 and K.J. Cooper finished his night with 10 points. Senior Mike Robinson totaled a game-best nine rebounds for the Braves as well.

Lander, who topped Francis Marion in double overtime in its league opener on Wednesday, got a game-best 25 points from Dwight Tolbert, with Corey Wright adding 23 points. Darion Canty scored 11 points for the Bearcats as well.

"Any win in the Peach Belt Conference is a great win," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "Lander is a great win and Tolbert is an all-PBC caliber player. They have great balance and they have a lot of guys that can score. We're really happy with the win. It got really sloppy at time, especially in that stretch there in the second half, but we made some stops and got some rebounds when we needed them."

UNCP needed just less than five minutes off the second half clock to turn a 46-37 halftime advantage into a 62-44 lead on Ben Jacobs' tip-in with 15:19 left to play. The Bearcats had whittled their deficit down to just 10 on Tolbert's layup with 9:33 remaining, but the Braves scored the game's next eight points to push the lead back to 18 points, 74-56, on Robinson's rebound and tip-in.

Lander would make the game interesting once again, however, with a 13-2 run over the next three minutes of the game and trailed by just four, 76-72, after Tolbert's 3-pointer with 75 seconds left.

A tight game for the opening 12 minutes of the contest, UNCP scored seven-straight points to take a 31-24 lead with 6:54 left before the half and led by as much as 10 points, 43-33, after an old-fashioned 3-point play by newcomer Griffin Pittman at the 2:17 mark.

UNCP will be back in action again on December 12 when the Braves travel to Mount Olive (5-0) to battle the unbeaten Trojans in a 7 p.m. contest at Kornegay Arena.

To watch the full game click HERE.