DAHLONEGA, Ga. – North Georgia trimmed a 19-point second half deficit down to just two with 2:41 to play, but the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team used lockdown defense down the stretch to tough out an 80-74 victory over the Nighthawks on Saturday afternoon in Memorial Hall.
It was the sixth-straight Peach Belt Conference road triumph for the Braves (7-3, 3-1 PBC) who have now won four-straight games in the state of Georgia as well. North Georgia (3-7, 1-3), who has now dropped five of its last six outings, has dropped four-straight in the series with the Black & Gold as well.
Nigel Grant came off the bench to register a team-best 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Braves who won the rebounding battle in a game (41-35) for the eighth time this season.
Akia Pruitt and
Brandon Watts each added 16 points in the win, while
James Murray-Boyles turned in 11 points.
Tyler Dominy recorded a career- and game-high 24 points to pace the Nighthawks who dug themselves a hole with 11 first half turnovers in the contest. Shaquan Cantrell turned in 21 points for the hosts as well.
UNCP led by as many as 19 points, 59-40, after Grant's lay-in with 14:41 left to play, but North Georgia steadily chopped away at its deficit over the next three minutes before utilizing a 12-0 run to make it a one-possession game, 67-64, after Cantrell's layup at the 7:53 mark. The Nighthawks made it a two-point game on another layup from Cantrell with 2:03 remaining, but went 1-for-4 from the field in the final minute to seal their fate.
The Braves scored 15 of the game's first 17 points to grab all the momentum early, but the Nighthawks hung around and eventually made it a two-possession game, 28-23, after Cantrell hit the back end of a two-shot foul at the 8:58 mark. The visitors, who shot better than 51 percent from the field and scored 19 points off of 11 turnovers by North Georgia in the opening half, would utilize a 10-2 run later in the period to take a 47-35 lead into the locker rooms.
UNCP will close out a short two-game road trip on Wednesday when it treks to Greenwood, S.C., to battle Lander (5-6, 1-4) in the second half of a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader inside Horne Arena.
