PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team shot a season-best 54.5 percent from the field and had four players finish with double-figure scoring as the Braves toppled a Peach Belt Conference leader for the second time in three days with an 89-71 victory over North Georgia on Monday afternoon.
 
The triumph marked the fourth-straight win for the Braves (13-4, 6-2 PBC) who moved into a two-way tie atop the league standings thanks to Augusta's 32-point win over Young Harris. It was the second loss in the last three outings for the Nighthawks (9-7, 5-2) who have also dropped five of the last six in the series with the Black & Gold.
 
Brandon Watts tallied a game-best 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting to pace the Braves who finished with 13 steals and 25 fastbreak points as well. Andrew Evans and James Murray-Boyles came off the bench to score 14 and 13 points, respectively, while Nigel Grant scored 10.
 
Shaquan Cantrell registered 14 points to lead North Georgia who trailed by as much as 29 points with just less than eight minutes to play. Ephraim Tshimanga tallied 13 points off the bench for the Nighthawks as well.
 
A fastbreak dunk by freshman Micah Kinsey at the 12:49 mark in the second half sparked the Braves on a 17-6 run that fueled an eventual 80-51 advantage five minutes later, but North Georgia answered with an 18-4 run to whittle its deficit down to 15 with 2-1/2 minutes to play. The Braves pushed their cushion back out to 20 points on a 3-pointer by Evans with 52 seconds left.
 
UNCP shot better than 68 percent from the field through the first 16-1/2 minutes of the contest and led by 16 points, 38-22, by the final media timeout of the opening stanza. The hosts eventually took a 48-34 lead into the locker room.


The Braves will close out a three-game home stand on Wednesday when they suit up to battle PBC East rival Lander (5-10, 2-4) in the second half of a 5:30 p.m. Neon Night doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.