AIKEN, S.C. – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team used a 13-2 run early in the second half to erase a 13-point halftime deficit, and then scored seven of the game's final eight points to secure a 59-52 victory over USC Aiken on Wednesday evening in the Convocation Center.
It was the first Peach Belt Conference win of the season for the Braves (7-7, 1-4 PBC) who have now won four of the last six matchups in the series with their PBC East rivals. The setback extended the losing streak for the Pacers (2-10, 0-5) out to six games.
Brandon Watts scored 13 points to lead UNCP, but the visitors got a strong second half performance from Tyler Kordenbrock who finished with 11 points despite playing the final 20 minutes with four fouls. Brandon Winford pulled down 10 boards, but fell just shy of a double-double with eight points.
Keith Belfield poured in a game-best 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting and nabbed a double-double with 11 rebounds as well for the Pacers, who also got a dozen points from Jevon Patton.
Belfield's jump shot just more than two minutes into the second half gave USC Aiken a comfortable 36-21 lead, but Alex Bradley's layup with 13:36 to play ignited the Braves on a game-changing 13-2 run that eventually knotted the game up at 45 apiece following a lay-in by Jihad Wright at the 8:24 mark.
The visitors took the lead for good on a pair of free throws from Winford with 6:11 remaining and eventually padded their lead out to five, 52-47, less than a minute later. The hosts climbed to within one point on Patton's running jumper at the 2:46 mark, but missed their final five shots down the stretch to seal their fate.
UNCP shot just 21.4 (6-of-28) percent in the first half, but the Pacers were not able to open up the game until Belfield scored the first of nine-straight points for the hosts on a layup at the 13:08 mark. Wright made it a two-possession game, 19-15, on a running jumper with 10:43 left, but that signaled a nearly four-minute scoring drought for both teams. USC Aiken would close the period with a 13-4 run to take a 32-19 advantage into the locker rooms.
The Braves will open up a three-game home stand on Saturday when they return home for the first time in nearly a month to battle red-hot Montevallo (7-4, 3-1) in the back half of a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
