PEMBROKE – UNCP shot better than 47 percent from the field, dominated the paint and held one of the nation's top-scoring team more than 20 points below its average in keying the Braves to a 91-68 toppling of visiting Francis Marion on Thursday evening in the English E. Jones Center.

The triumph marked the fifth win in the last six outings for UNCP (15-7, 8-4 PBC), who posted their 15th win for the third-straight season – the first time that feat has been achieved in more than 20 years (1989-92). The loss snapped a two-game win streak for the Patriots (8-10, 3-8) who came into the game sporting the nation's third-best scoring average (90.9 points/game).

George Blakeney led a quartet of Braves with double-figure scoring nights as the senior registered a game-best 16 points on a perfect 6-for-6 night from the field. Quamain Rose added 15 points, while Shahmel Brackett had 11 and Brandon Winford came one rebound short of a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Brackett has now touched double-digit scoring in all seven games he has played against Patriots.

Mi'Kyel Nero and Robert Carpenter both scored 12 points to lead Francis Marion, who also got 11 points from Chris Rhodes. Evrik Gary, who entered the game sporting the league's eighth-best scoring average (16.4) was held to just three points on an 0-for-7 shooting from the field.

The Braves posted a 52-30 disparity in the rebounding column – the 19th time this season the nation's sixth-best rebounding team has out-rebounded their opponent. The Black & Gold out-scored the Patriots 46-32 in the paint, while also benefitting from a 23-12 advantage in second chance points as well.

"Our defensive effort was pretty consistent tonight and we rebounded the ball very well," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "We had a size advantage so we tried to take advantage of that. We were pretty good (defensively) on the ball tonight and only got better as the game went on. They are very dangerous shooting the ball and we were able to limit their second chance shots tonight."

Francis Marion sliced a 20-point halftime deficit back to 47-32 just 39 seconds into the second half, but the Braves responded with a 14-3 run over the next five minutes and took a 61-35 lead after a pair of free throws by Rose with 14:19 left to play. UNCP padded its lead to as much as 34 points on a fastbreak jumper by Alex Bradley at the 7:09 mark before taking its foot off the gas pedal.

The Patriots shot just 29 percent from the field, including a paltry 19 percent effort from the perimeter, in falling behind quickly. The Black & Gold led by double digits, 18-7, just more than seven minutes in, and then pushed that lead out to 21 points, 35-14, on a dunk by Winford with 6:50 remaining before the intermission.

The Braves will hit the road again on Saturday when they take their show to St. Augustine, Fla., to battle PBC East Division rival Flagler (9-11, 5-8) in the back half of a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader inside Flagler Gym.

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