Men's Basketball Uses Late Run To Topple Lenoir-Rhyne
HICKORY – Lucas Reed's 3-pointer with 7:05 to play helped Lenoir-Rhyne settle into a 68-62 advantage, but the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored the game's next 12 points to take the lead for good and fuel an 81-76 victory over the Bears on Friday evening in Shuford Gymnasium.
The Braves (1-0) improved to 7-2 in season openers under head coach
Ben Miller with the triumph, while also giving the Black & Gold its 14th victory over L-R in a series that dates back to the 1967-68 season. The Bears (0-1) had won three of their last four season openers heading into the weekend.
Brandon Watts complemented a game-best 18 points with four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a pair of steals to pace the Braves, who also got 15 points off the bench from
James Murray-Boyles. Newcomer
Nigel Grant chipped in 14 points, and narrowly missed his first career double-double with nine boards as well.
Four starters turned in double-digit point totals for Lenoir-Rhyne, including Lucas Reed who matched a game-best with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting. JacQues Chambers and Jarvis Calhoun tallied a dozen points as well for the hosts who finished the night with 14 3-pointers.
Lenoir-Rhyne led by as much as seven points in the second half but, after grabbing a 68-62 lead with just more than seven minutes to play, missed their next six attempts from the field to signal a scoring drought of nearly 4-1/2 minutes. The Braves grabbed a 77-71 lead courtesy of a 3-pointer by Grant at the 2:06 mark, but the Bears pulled to within three points, 79-76, on a perimeter shot by Chambers with 23 ticks left.
Grant would ice the game with a pair of free throws on the other end of the court.
Both teams shot better than 48 percent from the floor in the opening half, and neither side was able to forge a lead of more than five points. The opening period featured three tie scores and as many lead changes, with the Bears lugging a 41-38 lead into the locker room thanks to a trio of late free throws.
The Braves will close out play at the PBC/SAC Challenge with a 6 p.m. contest against Catawba (1-0) inside Shuford Gymnasium. The Indians were a 75-62 winner over Francis Marion in the opening game of the tournament earlier on Saturday.
