OMAHA, Neb. – Nigel Grant scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the first half to keep the game close, but Creighton shot nearly 50 percent from the field in the second half and used an 11-0 run midway through the period to pull away for good as the Bluejays topped the 23^rd-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team, 93-70, on Friday evening at the CenturyLink Center Omaha.
 
The contest marked the second of three preseason exhibition contests for the defending Peach Belt Conference champions who will lift the lid on the regular season on November 10 against Lenoir-Rhyne at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. The victory closed the book on the exhibition schedule for Creighton who returned nine lettermen from last season's NCAA Tournament squad.
 
Grant finished the evening with a 10-for-19 clip from the field, including a 3-for-4 success rate from the perimeter, while also chipping in four boards as well. Akia Pruitt registered a dozen points and six rebounds, while Brandon Watts (11 points) and Micah Kinsey (10) reached double-figure point totals as well.
 
Creighton's returning starters, Khyri Thomas (22 points) and Marcus Foster (19), combined to score 41 points for the Bluejays who finished the night with 50 points in the paint. Manny Suarez and Mitch Ballock chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Creighton as well.
 
Hot shooting in the second half allowed the hosts to pad their lead all the way out to 18 points, 65-47, after Foster's lay-in with 13:54 left to play, but the Bluejays missed eight of their next nine shots to allow the Braves to climb back into the game. Grant's layup just more than three minutes later trimmed the UNCP deficit back to 13 points, but Creighton responded with a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to widen the gap once again.
 
The Braves connected on seven of their first 10 shots of the contest and led by as much as five points, 17-12, after Jamal Bryant's running jumper at the 15:15 mark. However, the Braves went cold over the next 6-1/2 minutes and canned just one of their next 10 field goal attempts. That drought signaled a surge for the Bluejays who strung together a 17-4 run to eventually grab an 8-point lead, 29-21, on a jumper by Thomas with 7:46 left before the intermission.
 
Creighton would eventually take a 49-41 advantage into the break.
 
The Braves will be back in action again on Sunday when they make the short trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to close out the preseason portion of their 2017-18 schedule against Northern Iowa. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. EST inside UNI's McLeod Center.