Related: NCAA Southeast Regional Update: Frequently Asked Questions

PEMBROKE – The third-seeded and 24^th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team will make its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last six years on Saturday when it heads to Charlotte to take on sixth-seeded Limestone in the opening round of the NCAA Southeast Regional on the campus of Queens University. Tipoff is scheduled for noon inside the Levine Center.
 
Fans can follow the game for free via a live audio stream on the UNCP Braves YouTube channel with Cameron Songer handling the play-by-play duties. The game can also be followed via live video and statistics links provided by the NCAA as well.


 

#24 UNC Pembroke (24-7) vs. Limestone (26-5)
Date & Tip Time	Saturday, March 11 at Noon EDT
Location	Charlotte, N.C.. | Levine Center
Live Statistics	NCAA.com
Video	Queens Sports On YouTube
Audio	Braves Radio On YouTube
Peach Belt Conference	Men's Basketball
Conference Carolinas	Men's Basketball

 

• The Braves (24-7) captured their first Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship in program history with an 89-77 victory over Columbus State on Sunday in Greenwood, S.C. UNCP held the Cougars to just 20 percent field goal shooting over the last 7-1/2 minutes, and the Braves used that drought to string together a 20-6 run to pull away for good.
• Sunday's triumph over the Cougars marked the 10^th-straight win for the Braves – the longest winning skein for the club under head coach Ben Miller, and the third-longest win streak in school history. The 1990-91 club opened the season with a school-record 12-straight victories, while the 1984-85 Braves posted an 11-game win streak.
• Freshman Akia Pruitt was named PBC Tournament's Most Valuable Player after nearly averaging a double-double for the Black & Gold. Pruitt scored 11.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game over the three contests in for UNCP in the PBC Tournament. He was joined on the all-tournament team by junior Brandon Watts who averaged 20.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 assists in the tournament.
• Saturday's PBC semifinal victory over Lander marked the 150^th victory of Miller's coaching career (all at UNCP). The ninth-year head coach (2008-present) is now 151-114 (.570) as skipper of the Black & Gold and ranks second on the program's all-time wins list behind Lacey Gane (169 wins from 1965-75).
• The Black & Gold has now posted 20 or more wins three times (2012-13, 2014-15) under Miller's guidance, and the program has registered its only four NCAA postseason appearances during his watch as well. The Braves registered just one 20-win season (1990-91) in the 23 years prior to Miller's arrival on campus, and the program compiled just 24 total victories from 2002-08.
• The Black & Gold leads the Peach Belt Conference in a dozen statistical categories heading into the postseason, while ranking among the top three teams in three others. Among the more notable categories, the Braves pace the other 13 PBC squads in scoring offense (85.9 points/game), rebounding margin (+7.9 rebounds/game), steals per game (9.5), total blocks (147), total assists (496) and total steals (293).
• UNCP is 1-3 in its three previous NCAA Tournament appearances, but captured its first postseason victory in its with an 89-82 victory over Columbus State at the 2014-15 NCAA Southeast Regional in Harrogate, Tenn. The Black & Gold is 3-2 against the rest of the NCAA Tournament field this seasons, including victories over Wingate, Augusta and Columbus State.
• Limestone (26-5) has now won five-straight games after its 76-70 victory over King in the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship game. Like UNCP, the Saints shared their conference's regular season championship with Pfeiffer whom they split two regular season meetings with.
• The Saints ranked first or second in Conference Carolinas in 17 statistical categories, including leading the league in scoring defense (68.3 points/game allowed), 3-point field goal percentage (40 percent), total blocks (126) and turnovers per game (11.9). Limestone committed less than 10 turnovers in a dozen outings this season and canned 10 or more 3-pointers in 14 games as well.
• Limestone boasts a pair of all-conference players in Shaun Stewart and Shaq Dance. Stewart led the league in scoring with 21.7 points per game and shot better than 49 percent from the field, including a deadly 40.7 percent success rate from the perimeter. Dance captured Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Year laurels after ranking among the top four in the league in steals (1.8), blocks (1.3) and defensive rebounds (5.6) per game. Dance also ranked fourth in the league in scoring (19.7 points/game).
• UNCP has taken both previous meetings with Limestone, including a 76-64 win over the Saints at the 2013-14 UNCP Invitational. The only other meeting between the two squads came during the 1997-98 season when the Braves registered a 75-54 win over Limestone at the Gardner-Webb Classic in Boiling Springs.