SAVANNAH, Ga. – A running jumper by Brandon Watts with 17:42 to play gave the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team a commanding 55-33 lead, but Armstrong State put together a pair of big runs to fuel a storybook comeback that gave the Pirates an 83-80 win over the Braves on Saturday evening at Alumni Arena.

The setback snapped a four-game win streak for UNCP (15-12, 9-9 PBC) who fell to 5-6 away from Pembroke this season. The triumph laid a two-game losing streak to rest for the Pirates (11-14, 9-9) who stopped a three-game series skid in the process as well.

Watts and Alex Bradley each scored 16 points to lead the Braves who shot just 50 percent (11-for-22) from the free throw line in the second half to help fuel the comeback effort by the hosts. Jihad Wright tallied 15 points, and Brandon Winford added 13 for the Black & Gold as well.

Herbert Graham scored a game-best 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting for the Pirates who connected on half (7-of-14) of their perimeter shots in the latter stanza to key the reversal of fortune as well. Nicholas Scott added 16 points to the victory, while Marcus Hopper chipped in a dozen.

UNCP stretched a 17-point halftime lead out to 22 with 17:42 remaining, but Armstrong State answered Watts' jumper with a 14-2 run that trimmed its deficit down to just 10 points with 13-1/2 minutes left. The Pirates whittled their deficit down to single digits, 61-52, on Graham's 3-pointer at the 10:35 mark, and trailed by just one, 74-73, after another 3-pointer by Graham six minutes later.

Scott gave Armstrong State a one-point lead on a pair of free throws with three minutes left, but Winford converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play on the other end of the court to give UNCP a 77-75 edge. The Pirates scored the game's next five points to push them ahead for good, however.

Armstrong State kept up with the Braves for the first 12 minutes of the opening half, but 74 percent shooting by the Braves in the opening stanza ultimately allowed them to pull away. UNCP pushed its lead out to double digits, 34-23, on a 3-pointer by Bradley with 3:15 left before the break, but the Black & Gold eventually carried a 48-31 lead into the locker rooms.

The Braves will close out the regular season portion of their 2015-16 schedule on Wednesday evening when they make the short trip to Florence, S.C., to take on Francis Marion (16-11, 8-10) in a crucial intra-divisional contest inside the Smith University Center. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.