PEMBROKE – Home-standing UNCP posted a 53-30 disparity in the rebounding column, a 33-16 advantage on second half points and a monster first half to register its 11th-straight home win with an 82-56 victory over Peach Belt Conference rival Columbus State on Saturday afternoon in the English E. Jones Center.

The triumph helped the Braves (10-5, 3-2 PBC) record just their sixth victory in the 32-game-old series with Columbus State (7-6, 2-4) who had not lost to the Braves in Pembroke since a 63-62 overtime setback on Feb. 13, 1999. The Braves have now won nine of their last 11 outings, while Saturday's loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Cougars.

Senior George Blakeney registered his sixth double-double of the season with a game-best 18 points and a dozen rebounds and is now within 15 points of becoming the 29th member of UNCP's 1,000-point club. Redshirt freshman Quamain Rose chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds, Brandon Winford added a dozen points and Ben Jacobs turned in 11 points of his own for the Braves as well. Reigning PBC Player of the Week Dimitri Davis scored a team-best 12 points for the visitors.

The inside presence helped UNCP out-rebound its opponent for the 11th-straight time and the 13th time this season, while its +23 margin in the rebounding column marked the fourth time this season the Black & Gold has out-rebounded its opponent by 20 boards or more. The output marked the biggest positive rebound disparity for the Braves since out-rebounding Armstrong Atlantic, 64-37, on Feb. 23, 2011.

"We did some nice things today," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "The rebounding was really good for us and there were some long stretches where we took them out of their offensive rhythm. We gave them too many second chance looks in the first half, but we were able to tighten that up a little bit in the second half. We were a little sloppy at time but, overall, I am pleased with our performance."

The Cougars trimmed their 21-point halftime deficit down to 15 points on a 3-pointer by Idell Bell with 11:16 to play, but the Black & Gold needed just 2-1/2 minutes to pad its advantage out to 22 points, 62-40, on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Winford at the 8:38 mark. The Braves would eventually take a 25-point lead, 74-49, on a pair of free throws by Rose with 3:02 to play.

Columbus State got its only lead of the game on a breakaway dunk by B.J. Battle that game the game its first points just 40 seconds in, but the Braves scored the game's next eight points and never looked back. UNCP had built its lead to double-digits midway through the opening stanza and used a 15-5 run at the end of the first half to take a 44-23 edge into the locker rooms.

UNCP will close out its three-game home stand on Sunday when it suits up to entertain PBC West foe Georgia Southwestern (6-6, 2-3) in the back half of a 1:30 p.m. basketball doubleheader in the English E. Jones Center.

To watch the full game click HERE.