COLUMBUS, Ga. – Home-standing Columbus State canned eight 3-pointers in the first half and led by as many as 16 points with just more than two minutes left before the break, but the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team dominated the boards and used a late 22-4 run to stun the Cougars, 95-81, on Monday evening inside the Frank G. Lumpkin Center.
 
 It was the fifth-straight victory for the Braves (7-1, 2-0 PBC) who have now won three of the last four matchups in the series with Columbus State. The setback marked the second-straight home loss for the Cougars (5-3, 1-2) who were coming off a 12-day break from action.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Pembroke 95, Columbus State 81 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke 7-1, 2-0 PBC; Columbus State 5-3, 1-2 PBC LOCATION: Columbus, Ga. (Frank G. Lumpkin Center)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

Columbus State shot nearly 56 percent from the field in the opening half, including an eye-popping 8-for-13 success rate from the perimeter, to fuel a 13-point advantage at the break. The Black & Gold cut an early eight-point deficit back to one possession, 21-18, following an old-fashioned 3-point play from Carson-Mounce at the 11:07 mark, but the hosts eventually padded their advantage out to 50-34 after a pair of Jalen Thomas free throws with just more than two minutes left before intermission.

2ND HALF

The Cougars pushed their advantage out to 15 points, 55-40, on a tip-in from Stanley Taylor just more than a minute into the second half, but the Black & Gold went to work after that and eventually whittled its deficit down to single digits, 62-54, after a 3-pointer from Cam Hamilton five minutes later. The Cougars looked to have quashed a momentum-swinging steal and dunk from Tyrell Kirk when DeMarcus McVay gave the hosts a 67-62 lead at the 10:44 mark, but Hamilton's running jumper on the other end of the court sparked the Braves on a game-changing 22-4 run that spanned consumed much of the next eight minutes.   UNCP took its first lead of the game, 70-69, on a Carson Mounce jumper at the 7:07 mark, but led by as many as 16 points, 95-79, on a fastbreak layup by David Strother with 40 seconds remaining.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Akia Pruitt scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the opening half on 5-of-7 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. He finished the night with a 7-for-10 clip from the field, while also turning in five rebounds and three blocks. + Senior James Murray-Boyles scored a game-best 18 points as well, and fueled his offensive night with a 4-for-5 shooting clip in the second half. He just missed a double-double with nine boards as well. + Sophomore Tyrell Kirk added 16 points, while sophomore David Strother turned in 12 points and seven rebounds. Kirk just missed a double-double as well with nine boards.

NOTABLES

+ The Braves scored 28 second-chance points on the shoulders of 26 offensive rebounds against the Cougars. It was the third time in the last four games that the Black & Gold has tallied 23 or more offensive boards. + UNCP has out-rebounded its last five opponents – all by 15 or more boards. The Braves were out-rebounded twice in their first three outings of the 2018-19 campaign. + Monday's result helped UNCP improve to 10-31 all-time in the series with the Cougars, including an 8-7 mark against Columbus State under head coach Ben Miller. The Braves have won three of the last four in the series as well. + The Black & Gold has now captured its last three PBC road-opening contests.

UP NEXT

The Braves will close out a three-game road trip on Wednesday when they head to Georgia Southwestern (2-6, 0-2) to battle the Hurricanes in the Storm Dome. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.

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