PEMBROKE – Marcus Heath's 3-pointer with 12:07 to play in the first half gave UNCP a lead it would never relinquish, but the Braves had to hold off visiting Francis Marion down the stretch before pulling out an 88-85 victory over the Patriots on Wednesday evening at the English E. Jones Center.

The win clinched a second-straight winning season for UNCP (15-10, 9-6 PBC) – the first time the Braves have accomplished that feat since the 1990-91 and 1991-92 campaigns – and moved the Black & Gold to 10-4 in Pembroke this season – the most home wins for the club since joining the NCAA Division II ranks prior to the 1992-93 season. The Patriots (14-11, 7-8) have now lost three of their last four since topping the Braves, 79-74, in Florence, S.C., nearly two weeks ago.

The result marked the 17th time in the last 19 years that a series matchup has been decided by five points or less as well.

Marcus Heath came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points to lead five Braves with double-figure scoring nights. Freshman Ben Jacobs registered 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, George Blakeney and Shahmel Brackett each added 13, and K.J. Cooper chipped in 11 points for the Braves as well. Marcus Wright used five 3-pointers to fuel a game-best 23 points for Francis Marion, who also got four other double-digit scoring nights as well.

Liki Turner scored 18 points and Evrik Gary added 15, while Darryn Frazier and Andrew Smith scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

"That's the Peach Belt Conference," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "It's rare to find a game decided by a 10-point margin or larger – usually it is going to come down to a possession or two. Francis Marion has a great team, and both teams fought very hard tonight. We were really fortunate to get the win."

UNCP led by as much as 16 points, 66-50, midway through the second half, but the Patriots used a 12-4 run to cut their deficit to a single possession, 72-70, on Turner's trey with 5:44 left to play. The Braves, twice, stretched their advantage out to six points over the course of the next two minutes, but the Patriots answered again, this time cutting the lead to just one point, 82-81, on Frazier's 3-pointer at the 2:20 mark.

Leading 84-81 with just more than a minute to play, Heath snared an ill-timed pass by Turner and Cooper hit the front end of a two-shot foul on the other end to give the Braves a two-possession cushion.

The Braves came out of the gates firing in the first half to quickly take a 9-2 lead, but the Patriots scored 12 of the next 16 points to take a 14-13 advantage at with 12-1/2 minutes left. It would be the last time the hosts would trail, however, as Heath's go-ahead 3-pointer was tacked on to the scoreboard just 20 seconds later.

The Braves will continue a three-game home stand on Saturday when they suit up to battle PBC East foe Armstrong Atlantic (10-13, 6-9) in the back end of a 1:30 p.m. basketball doubleheader in the English E. Jones Center.

To watch the full game click Part 1 or Part 2.