PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team trimmed a 16-point second half deficit down to just four on Giavonni Mack's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, but Mount Olive overcame a disastrous effort from the free throw line to can their final four tries and ice an 87-80 win over the Braves on Saturday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The setback marked the third-straight loss for UNCP (5-4) who fell at home in the series with the Trojans for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign. It was the fourth-straight victory for Mount Olive (6-4) who improved to 3-2 on the road this season as well.
Brandon Watts matched a game-high with 24 points, and added nine rebounds two steals and a pair of assists to pace the Black & Gold, who also got 13 points off the bench from Jihad Wright. Mack and Keysheen Hinton turned in 13 and 10 points, respectively, for the hosts as well.
All-American Dontrell Brite poured in 24 points for the visitors who got double-digit scoring from three other players on the night as well. Mike Moore tallied 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while Jacque Brown came off the bench to register 15. Dominique Reed staved off early second half foul trouble to finish with 14 points for the Trojans.
Reed's running layup with 2:39 to play helped the Trojans stake claim to a 79-63 lead, but UNCP went to work and scored 15 of the game's next 18 points to pull to within two possessions, 82-78, after Mack's running perimeter shot with 28 ticks left. The Trojans, who shot just 53.8 percent (21-for-39) from the charity stripe in the game, would climb on the shoulders of Brite down the stretch, however, and the all-American delivered by hitting four-straight free throw attempts.
Watts connected on a perimeter shot and then hit three free throws on UNCP's next trip down the court to give the Braves a 33-24 advantage at the 5:44 mark in the opening period, but Mount Olive had trimmed its deficit back to just two points, 36-34, following Brown's jumper three minutes later. Watts hit a jump shot on the ensuing possession, and Hinton connected on the front end of a two-shot foul with two seconds left, to give the hosts a 39-34 lead at the break.
The Braves will close out a three-game home stand on Monday when they return to Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court for a rematch with Winston-Salem State (5-2) at 7 p.m. UNCP registered an 89-88 overtime win over the Rams earlier this season in Winston-Salem.
