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DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The 14th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored 22 points off of 18 North Georgia turnovers and used key free throw shooting in the game's final 28 seconds to turn back the Nighthawks, 78-71, on Saturday afternoon in Memorial Hall.

The outcome helped the Braves (16-1, 7-1 PBC) match the program's longest win streak (9 games) of the NCAA Division II era, while also putting the finishing touches on a perfect 3-0 road trip. It was the third-straight loss for North Georgia (11-4, 5-3) who suffered its first home loss of the season as well.

Quamain Rose scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to pace the Braves, who also got 19 points from freshman Brandon Watts. Keysheen Hinton came off the bench to tally a season-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Ebo Smith put up a team-best 14 points for North Georgia who canned 19 of its 20 attempts (95 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Braves by a 40-37 margin. T.J. Williams and Corey Green turned in 13 points for the hosts as well.

"We had some minor adjustments to make at the half, but I was proud of the way that we played defensively today," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "North Georgia is the league's top scoring team (82.4 points/game) and we were able to hold them back a little bit today. We are excited about coming back home on Monday. We have had some terrific crowds this year, and I hope that we can add a few more students to the mix to make it a pretty electric environment against Clayton State."

The Braves stretched a six-point halftime advantage out to 12 points, 49-37, on Griffin Pittman's layup just less than three minutes into the second stanza, but the Nighthawks narrowed that gap to 58-57 after a 3-pointer by Smith nine minutes later. North Georgia got a clutch 3-pointer from Sean Brennan with 2:35 remaining to pull to within a pair of possessions, but UNCP answered with four-straight points, including Rose's layup following a missed dunk by Williams with less than a minute to play.

The squads combined for four lead changes and as many tie scores in the opening eight minutes of the first half, but the Nighthawks scored eight-straight points to grab a 19-11 advantage after a Williams layup at the 9:43 mark. The Braves would answer with a 14-2 scoring run that was capped on a jumper by Rose with 5:45 left before the intermission that gave them a 25-21 advantage.

The Braves will be back in action again on Monday when they return home to take on Clayton State (12-4, 5-3) in the second half of a 1:30 p.m. basketball doubleheader inside the English E. Jones Center.