HARROGATE, Tenn. – The 16th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team shot nearly 48 percent from the field and scored 16 points off of 14 turnovers as the Braves picked up their first NCAA Tournament win in program history with an 89-82 victory over Columbus State on Saturday afternoon at Tex Turner Arena.

Griffin Pittman poured in a career- and game-high 31 points for the Braves (26-5) who advanced through to Sunday's semifinal round where they will face either second-seeded Montevallo or seventh-seeded Carson-Newman. Brandon Winford keyed a 16-point outing with a 10-for-10 showing at the free throw line, while Brandon Watts scored 15 points, including 14 in a monster first-half effort.

It was the fourth loss in the last six series meetings for Columbus State (22-8) who got 29 points from Shane Heyward and 17 more from Ty Harris.

"You saw a great college basketball game today," said UNCP head coach Ben Miller. "You're at the point of the season where it is 'win or go home' and our guys knew that coming in. Everybody in our locker room contributed to this win today. Our team works for each other and they played very hard. I'm very blessed as a coach to be able to coach a group of guys like this. They don't want this season to end, and I want to keep coaching them for as long as possible."

The Braves led by as many as 17 points on a layup by Pittman just more than five minutes into the second half, but Columbus State steadily chipped away at the deficit and used a an 11-2 run later in the period to climb to within four points, 76-72, after a 3-pointer by Harris with 2:45 left to play. UNCP would hit 13 of its final 14 shots from the foul line to seal the deal, however.

Columbus State had all the momentum early on as the Cougars stormed out to a quick 12-2 lead, but UNCP responded with a 13-2 run and grabbed its first lead of the contest, 15-14, on a pair of free throws by Winford at the 8:38 mark. A key 10-4 scoring spurt later in the period would allow the Braves to carry a 40-32 advantage into the locker rooms.

"Our guys had a lot of fight in the second half, but we played a good team that made plays and free throws down the stretch and that made it difficult to come back," said Columbus State head coach Robert Moore.