PEMBROKE – Quarterback Patrick O'Brien threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns on 20-of-25 passing to key a monstrous offensive effort that lifted the UNC Pembroke football team past visiting West Virginia State, 45-21, on Saturday afternoon at Grace P. Johnson Stadium.

The result snapped a two-game losing streak for the Braves (5-3) who improved to 4-0 at home in 2015. The Yellow Jackets (5-4), who had won three of their previous four road games heading into the weekend, have now dropped two of their last three outings.

O'Brien registered his second-straight 300+-yard passing game to pace the Braves, while B.J. Bunn hauled in eight catches for 198 yards and a career-best three touchdowns, including an 83-yard scoring reception in the third quarter. The Braves racked up a season-best 486 yards on the day, including 168 on the ground.

Newcomer Matthew Thomas-Quick logged a team-best 10 tackles to pace Code Black, which also got interceptions from both Albert Wright and Jonas Johnson. The UNCP defense sacked WVSU quarterback Matt Kinnick five times as well.

Kinnick connected with Joshua Caiquo on a 54-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter to give the visitors a 13-7 advantage, but UNCP scored three unanswered touchdowns before the break to take a 28-13 lead into the locker rooms. UNCP added two more scores in the third quarter, including O'Brien's 83-yard strike to Bunn with just less than three minutes left, to pad its advantage out to 42-13 and put the game out of reach.

The Yellow Jackets cut into their deficit on Kinnick's 5-yard strike to Akil Washington late in the fourth quarter, but the Braves snapped the lid on the day's scoring with a career-long 45-yard field goal from Matt Davis with 2:44 left to play.

UNCP will close out the road portion of its 2015 schedule on Saturday when it makes the long trip to Owensboro, Ky., to take on Kentucky Wesleyan (3-4). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Steele Stadium.