MOUNT OLIVE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored 20 points off of 19 turnovers and used a late 8-2 scoring spurt to fight off an upset-minded Mount Olive squad, 79-71, on Wednesday evening inside Kornegay Arena.
It was the fifth win in the last six outings for UNCP (6-2) who evened up the all-time series, 17-17, with their in-state rivals as well. The Trojans (1-9) have now lost seven-straight outings dating back to a 79-67 setback at St. Augustine's on November 19.
Freshman
Akia Pruitt scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and tallied his second-straight double-double with 10 boards as well to pace the Braves who were out-rebounded (32-31) for just the second time this season in the outing.
Mike Smith scored all 12 of his points in the second half to give the Black & Gold a shot of adrenaline, while newcomer
Nigel Grant chipped in a baker's dozen on 5-of-7 shooting.
Tayon Gleaves fueled a game-best 19 points with four 3-pointers for the Trojans, while DeAndre Barber scored 19 points and Tyler Thomas added 10. The hosts shot nearly 63 percent (15-of-24) from the field in the opening half, but offset that tirade with 36 percent (12-of-33) shooting in the final stanza.
Mount Olive canned a trio of 3-pointers on their first three possessions of the second half to grab the lead on as many occasions, but Pruitt's lay-in with 13:39 to play ignited the visitors on a 12-0 run that would eventually give them a 62-52 lead after a triple by Smith at the 10:29 mark. The Trojans climbed to within two points on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Gleaves with just more than five minutes to play, but the Black & Gold slammed the door on the rally by tacking up eight of the game's next 10 points.
UNCP scored the game's first 10 points to force an early timeout by Mount Olive, but the Trojans responded by scoring 14 of the next 17 points to take a 14-13 edge just more than five minutes later. Five lead changes and as many tie scores would highlight the remainder of the half as the teams went into intermission locked in a 35-35 stalemate.
The Braves will return home again on Saturday to open up Peach Belt Conference play against Clayton State (4-4, 0-0 PBC) in the second half of a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guarantee Bank Court.
