PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke men's basketball team converted 71 percent of their field goal attempts in the second half and outscored Peach Belt Conference rival Augusta by 40 points in the stanza on the way to a 94-56 victory over the Jaguars on Saturday afternoon at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
 
The outcome marked the sixth win in the last seven outings for the Braves (12-4, 6-2 PBC) who also put an end to a two-game series losing streak in the process as well. The setback stopped a two-game winning skein for the Jaguars (10-5, 5-2) who have now dropped two of their last three road outings as well.
 
The result also marked UNCP's largest margin of victory in the 50-game-old series with Augusta. It was the most lopsided victory by either side since the Jaguars recorded an 89-43 win over the Black & Gold on Jan. 20, 2010.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Pembroke 94, Augusta 56 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke (12-4, 6-2 PBC); Augusta (10-5, 5-2 PBC) LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

Augusta shot 55 percent from the field in the opening half and led for all but 40 seconds of the period. The visitors drained six of the first seven shots of the contest, and eventually built an eight-point lead, 37-29, following a dunk from 7-foot big man Tyshaun Crawford with 3:27 left before the break. The Braves would close the stanza with a mild 8-2 run, however, and trailed by just a bucket, 39-37, heading into the locker rooms.

2ND HALF

Rafael Monteiro gave the visitors a 42-40 advantage on a bucket at the 18:16 mark, but the Braves connected on their next eight field goal attempts to fuel a 21-4 run that gave them a 61-44 lead just more than six minutes later. Micah Kinsey's running layup with 7:17 to play would signal a run of six consecutive made field goals by the Black & Gold that helped it eventually build the lead out to 33 points, 81-48, with 4:45 to play. Augusta, which led the league in field goal percentage (51.8) heading into the weekend, shot just 22.7 percent (5-for-22) over the final 14-1/2 minutes of the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Akia Pruitt turned in his 25th career double-double (6th of season) with 15 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four blocks and five assists. + Sophomore Jordan Ratliffe turned in 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a team-best eight points in the opening half. + Junior David Strother added 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting with four assists, three rebounds and one steal. + Tyrell Kirk scored eight of his 10 points in the second half. He finished with four assists and a pair of boards as well. + Senior Micah Kinsey came off of the bench to post seven points, eight assists, four steals and two rebounds.

NOTABLES

+ UNCP was 36-for-60 (.600) from the floor on Saturday. It is the 10th time this season that the Braves have converted on at least half of their field goal attempts, and the eighth time in the last 10 outings that they have accomplished that feat. It is the second time this season (Mount Olive) that the Black & Gold has converted on at least 60 percent of its field goal attempts. + Senior Akia Pruitt is now one of just two players in the history of the Peach Belt Conference to record 900 or more career rebounds. Pruitt needs just 14 more rebounds this season to move atop the list of the league's all-time rebounders. His four blocks on Saturday moved him into a tie for third place on the PBC's list of all-time shot blockers as well. + Saturday's result marked UNCP's largest margin of victory in the 50-game-old series with Augusta. It was just the third time that the Black & Gold has scored 90 or more points against the Jaguars as well.

UP NEXT

The Braves will open up a two-game road trip on Wednesday when they trek to south central South Carolina to battle league-leading USC Aiken (12-6, 8-0 PBC) in the back end of a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader inside the Convocation Center. The Pacers kept their unbeaten league record intact with a 104-91 win at Young Harris on Saturday.

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