PEMBROKE – The 21
st-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team shot better than 48 percent from the field and used a healthy run midway through the first half to pull away for good as the Braves impressed on Education Day in Pembroke with an 83-71 victory over Georgia Southwestern on Tuesday morning.
The triumph snapped a two-game skid for the Braves (6-3, 2-1 PBC) who canned a season-best 13 perimeter shots from the perimeter in the outing. It was the second-straight loss for the Hurricanes (4-3, 0-3) who remained winless in Peach Belt Conference action this season.
Senior
Brandon Watts scored a game-best 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting to lead a quintet of Braves with double-figure scoring days.
David Strother tallied 16 points, while
James Murray-Boyles came off the bench to add 13 points of his own on 5-of-7 shooting.
Tyrell Kirk and
Akia Pruitt added 11 points ap iece for the hosts.
Devin Watson scored 16 points to lead Georgia Southwestern who has now dropped seven of the last 10 matchups in the series with the Black & Gold. Hasaan Buggs recorded a double-double with 15 points and a dozen boards for the visitors as well.
The Braves pushed their lead out to 21 points, 50-29, just 4-1/2 minutes into the second half and led by as many as 27 points after a 3-pointer from Murray-Boyles at the 5:00 mark. The Hurricanes scored 21 of the game's last 27 points to provide the final.
A tip in by Buggs at the 14:31 mark in the first half cut the visitors' deficit down to a single point, but the Hurricanes missed their next 14 attempts from the field which fueled a game-changing 22-6 run for the hosts. That field goal drought by Georgia Southwestern spanned nearly 11-1/2 minutes. The Black & Gold would eventually take a 37-25 lead into the locker rooms.
The Black & Gold will now take a lengthy Holiday break before resuming their 2017-18 schedule on December 30 at North Georgia (3-6, 1-2). The Braves will return home again on January 6 when they take on Georgia College (5-3, 1-1) at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
