PEMBROKE – The 22
nd-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team will close out a short two-game home stand on Monday when the Braves return to the comfy confines of Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court to battle in-state rival Mount Olive. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Admission prices are $8 for adults and $5 for children 17 years of age and younger. UNCP students, faculty and staff are admitted free with a valid Braves Card.
Fans unable to make the trip to Pembroke can follow the game for free via a live video stream on the UNCP Sports Network with
Matt Sabados handling the play-by-play duties. The game can also be followed via a live statistics link which can be found at UNCPBraves.com.
- The Braves (3-1) stayed unbeaten at home this season with a 94-88 victory over Barton on Tuesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Six players registered double-digit scoring numbers for the Braves who used a late 6-0 scoring spurt to pull away for good in the victory.
- The Black & Gold is averaging more than seven blocks per game (7.3) through four outings this season, led by 3.3 swats per game from sophomore Akia Pruitt. The Braves posted 11 blocks in the win over the Bulldogs on Tuesday night – just the second time in the last 14 years (Barton, 2016-17) that a UNCP team has posted 10 or more blocks in a game.
- UNCP has out-rebounded 79 of its last 100 opponents, and have accomplished that task in three of its four games this season. Over that 100-game stretch, the Braves have out-rebounded opponents by 10 or more boards on 29 occasions as well.
- The Braves are 39-11 (.780) against non-conference foes over the last five seasons, including a perfect 11-0 record against such opponents during the 2013-14 campaign. UNCP has won eight-straight home games against non-conference opponents heading into Monday's matchup.
- UNCP and Mount Olive have split 34 previous meetings in a series that dates all the way back to the 1985-86 season when both institutions called Conference Carolinas home. The Braves are 8-6 at home in the series, but the road team has captured the last three contests, including UNCP's 79-71 win over the Trojans last season. The squads split a home-and-home series during the 2015-16 campaign.
- Skipper Ben Miller returns for his 10th season at the helm of the Black & Gold and needs just 15 wins to match former Pembroke State legend Lacey Gane (1965-75) atop the program's all-time wins list. Miller has led the Braves to a 153-116 (.569) record in 9+ seasons as head coach. During that time, UNCP has made four trips to the NCAA Tournament (2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2016-17) and has reached the 20-win plateau three times. The program registered just three 20-win seasons in the 34 years prior to Miller's arrival in 2008-09.
ABOUT MOUNT OLIVE
- The Trojans (3-1) stretched their win streak out to three games with a pair of wins at the UMO-hosted Pickle Classic. Mount Olive shot better than 52 percent from the field in a 99-84 rout of Saint Augustine's on November 17, and then scored 25 points off of 26 turnovers on the way to a 64-58 win over Virginia Union on November 18.
- Mount Olive is averaging better than 81 points per game this season, and sports a Conference Carolinas-best 45.5 percent success rate from the perimeter through four games. Defensively, UMO's opponents have canned 47 percent of their field goal attempts and are out-rebounding the Trojans by an average of 4.0 boards an outing.
- Five players are averaging 10.0 points per game or better for Mount Olive in 2017-18, including guards Tayon Gleaves and Cameron Robinson who sport a team-best 14.5 points per game. Gleaves and Robinson have combined to register 5.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, and are both players are shooting 50 percent or better from the field, including nearly 46 percent from downtown.
- The Trojans have won just five of their last 19 road games as they venture to Pembroke for their first true road game of the season on Monday evening. Mount Olive was just 4-9 in opposing arenas last season.
