COLUMBUS, Ga. – Hot-handed Columbus State scored 28 points off of 15 turnovers by the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team and shot nearly 55 percent from the field on the way to a 91-88 victory over the Braves on Wednesday evening at the Frank G. Lumpkin Center.
The setback snapped a two-game road win streak for the Braves (9-4, 2-2 PBC) whose last three losses have come by a combined six points. It was the third-straight win for the Cougars (9-1, 2-1) who improved to 15-2 all-time at home in the series with UNCP.
James Murray-Boyles scored a season-high 19 points to pace the Braves, who also got a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) from
Nigel Grant.
Mike Smith tallied a career-high point total for the second time in as many days, this time scoring 16 points off the bench, and
Quamain Rose added 13 points and a game-high five assists.
JaCori Payne poured in a career-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting to lead the Cougars who also got eight points and 16 rebounds from Marcus Dixon.
Columbus State forged its largest lead of the game, 73-59, on a dunk by Dixon with 12:46 to play, but the Braves scored five-straight points to cut their deficit down to single digits just more than a minute later. Smith nailed a triple at the 4:15 mark to make it a three-point game, 87-84. The Braves put together an 8-2 run with time winding down to climb to within a point, 89-88, but missed a pair of perimeter shots in the final six seconds, including a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer, to seal the outcome.
The Cougars shot nearly 56 percent from the field in the opening half, but did a majority of their damage in transition by scoring 21 points off of 11 turnovers by the Braves. The hosts led by as much as 12 points, 50-38, after a pair of free throws by Ryan Burnett with 1:51 left before the break, but UNCP scored the last seven points of the period to whittle the deficit down to five heading into the locker rooms.
The Black & Gold will return home on Saturday to battle Georgia College (8-4, 2-1) in the second half of a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Saturday's contests will be preceded by a free clinic for area youth beginning at 10 a.m.
