PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored 21 points off of 17 North Georgia turnovers and used an 18-4 run midway through the first half to fuel a 76-46 victory over the visiting Nighthawks on Saturday afternoon at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
 
The victory closed out a 3-2 home stand for the Braves (8-3, 2-1 PBC) who also put the cap on the December portion of their 2019-20 schedule as well. It was the third-straight loss for North Georgia (5-6, 0-3) who has now dropped six-straight road games in the series with the Black & Gold as well.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Pembroke 76, North Georgia 46 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke (8-3, 2-1 PBC); North Georgia (5-6, 0-3 PBC) LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

Carson Mounce's jumper with 11:55 to play signaled an 18-4 run by the hosts that gave them a 32-15 lead after a free throw from Jordan Ratliffe just less than eight minutes later. Seven turnovers by the Nighthawks fueled that game-changing run, and allowed the Braves to eventually take a 42-24 lead into halftime.

2ND HALF

The Braves pushed their lead out to 20 points, 54-34, on David Strother's 3-pointer at the midway point of the second half, and UNCP led by as many as 34 points, 76-42, following Tyrell Kirk's layup with 1:51 to play. The Black & Gold converted on half of its field goal attempts (12-for-24) in the latter period, including a 12-for-19 (.631) success rate over the last 14-1/2 minutes.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Tyrell Kirk scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the first half, and added four rebounds and one steal. + Junior David Strother added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists. + Senior Carson Mounce finished the night with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, while also totaling seven boards.

NOTABLES

+ Saturday's victory closed out a 3-2 home stand for the Braves who will take a two-game win streak into January. The Black & Gold is now 3-2 at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court in 2019-20. + Senior Akia Pruitt pulled down eight rebounds on Saturday to move past former Armstrong State standout Allen Wilson into sole possession of third place on the Peach Belt Conference's all-time rebounding list. Pruitt now has 853 career rebounds, and needs just 61 more this season to move atop that chart. + UNCP totaled four blocks against the Nighthawks, and has now turned in four or more blocks in all 11 games this season. The Braves have now registered at least one block in 105 consecutive games, and have registered multiple blocks in 103 of those outings.

UP NEXT

UNCP will take the holiday season off before returning to action on January 4 at Young Harris (2-7, 0-1 PBC). That contest will mark the first of three-straight road games for the Braves who will return to Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court again on January 15 to take on Lander.

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JOIN THE BRAVES CLUB

Fans can help support the UNC Pembroke Men's Basketball program by joining the Braves Club. To find out more information about the Braves Club, visit UNCPBraves.com/BravesClub or email braves.club@uncp.edu.