PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored 34 points off of 23 turnovers and used a pair of big second half runs to run past Francis Marion, 89-65, and grab a share of the 2016-17 Peach Belt Conference regular season title on Wednesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
 
It is the first conference title for the Braves (21-7, 14-5 PBC) since capturing the 1989-90 Carolinas Conference championship as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). UNCP competed as a member of the Peach Belt Conference for the first time during the 1992-93 campaign.
 
Wednesday's result marked the second-straight loss for Francis Marion (11-17, 6-13) who were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention with a road loss to Armstrong State on Saturday. It was the most lopsided win for either team in the series in 14 years.
 
Alex Bradley fueled a team-high 19 points with a perfect 5-for-5 clip from the perimeter, while fellow senior Quamain Rose finished the night with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Nigel Grant chipped in 15 points, while Akia Pruitt narrowly missed his eighth double-double of the season with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Detrek Browning scored a game-high 21 points to lead Francis Marion who shot just 35.5 percent from the floor in the second half. Kenneth Jackson added 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
 
Judah Alexander's layup with 16:36 to play brought the visitors to within three points, but Bradley's 3-pointer on the other end of the floor sparked the Braves on a 14-0 run that eventually gave them a 61-44 advantage less than four minutes later. A 9-2 scoring spurt by the hosts later in the half gave them a 20-point lead, 78-58, after a dunk by Nigel Grant at the 3:12 mark.
 
The first half featured five tied scores and eight lead changes, but the Black & Gold would inevitably carry a 41-38 lead into the locker rooms thanks to a triple by Bradley with 40 seconds left.
 
The Braves, seeded No. 2 out of the PBC East, will be at home for the opening round of the 2016-17 PBC Tournament on Saturday. The Black & Gold will play North Georgia (15-13), the No. 3 seed out of the PBC West, at 3:30 p.m. on Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.