Related: No. 21 Men's Basketball Too Much For Coker

PEMBROKE – Quamain Rose scored 18 of his game-best 24 points in a game-changing first half to help the 21st-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team match its best start in school history with an 82-76 victory over GRU Augusta on Saturday evening in the English E. Jones Center.

The triumph marked the fifth-straight win for UNCP (12-1, 3-1 PBC) who matched the pace of the 1990-91 squad which began its campaign with a 12-1 record en route to a program-best 27-5 season. It was the second loss in the last three outings for GRU Augusta (9-3, 1-2) who has now dropped four of the last six series matchups with the Black & Gold.

Rose led a quartet of Braves with double-figure scoring efforts, including freshman Brandon Watts who scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. Keysheen Hinton came off the bench to post 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Ben Jacobs keyed a 10-point effort by connecting on all six of his free throw attempts.

Keshun Sherrill tallied a team-best 18 points for the Jaguars, while Devonte Thomas chipped in 16.

"Those were two top 25 teams going at it out there tonight. We knew it was going to be a battle," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "We challenged our guys at the half to continue to play inside-out. Our defense was pretty darn good tonight as well."

GRU Augusta trimmed a 6-point halftime deficit down to just one, 48-47, on a 3-pointer by Thomas with 13:37 to play, but the Braves used a pair of small scoring spurts to pad their lead back out to nine, 62-53, on a layup by Brandon Winford just more than three minutes later. The visitors pulled to within 75-72 on a tip in by Devon Wright-Nelson with 1:09 left, but the Black & Gold converted on 5-of-6 free throw attempts in the final minute to seal the outcome.

The Braves shot 50 percent from the field in the opening half and led by as much as 12 points, 32-20, after a 3-pointer by Rose with 6:16 left before the intermission. GRU Augusta whittled its deficit back to just four points on a pair of Wright-Nelson free throws with nine seconds, but Brandon Winford drained two free throws on the other end to give the hosts a 40-34 lead heading into the locker rooms.

UNCP will close out a six-game home stand on Wednesday when the Braves suit up to host PBC East rival USC Aiken (5-6, 0-2) in the second half of a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader inside the English E. Jones Center. Students, faculty and staff of all Robeson County Schools will be admitted free.