PEMBROKE – The 15th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team whittled a 12-point second half deficit down to just three with a little more than a minute left to play, but Montevallo got key points on a pair of late possessions and held off the Braves, 73-68, in the semifinals of the Peach Belt Conference Basketball Championships presented by Jani-King.

The setback snapped a six-game winning streak for UNCP (25-5) who will likely make their third trip to the NCAA postseason when the 64-team field is announced on NCAA.com on Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. Montevallo (23-8), the league's regular season champion, will make its fifth PBC Championship game appearance in the last six years on Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

Griffin Pittman scored a season- and game-high 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting to pace the Braves who shot just 35.5 percent from the field, including a 29 percent effort in the first half. Quamain Rose chipped in 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Brandon Winford added nine points and eight boards.

Troran Brown tallied a team-best 17 points for the Falcons despite missing most of the first half with foul trouble. Larry Slaughter registered a double-double with 14 points and as many rebounds, while Malik Fields and Shykeem Jackson each contributed 13 points.

Montevallo used a 12-2 run to take a commanding 63-51 advantage with five minutes left to play, but the Braves scored 15 of the next 19 points and cut it down to a one-possession game (67-64) after two free throws by Winford at the 1:18 mark. The Black & Gold would come away with just one point – a free throw by Cody Hughes with 29 seconds left – on their next three possessions, however.

Neither team was able to pull away in the first half, but Montevallo opened up a six-point lead, 28-22, on Jackson's 3-pointer at the 3:34 mark. Reggie Cobia gave the half its sixth tie score on a short jumper with 39 seconds left before the break, but Kimani Key's drained a perimeter shot at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 34-31 lead heading into the locker rooms.