AMERICUS, Ga. – Senior Akia Pruitt registered his 26^th career double-double performance on the way to cementing his status as the Peach Belt Conference's all-time leading rebounder, and the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team ran its win streak out to four games with an 88-72 victory at Georgia Southwestern on Saturday.
 
It was the eighth win in the last nine games for the Braves (14-4, 8-2 PBC) who, coupled with USC Aiken's road loss to Lander on Saturday, moved into first place in the league standings. Saturday's setback marked the fifth loss in the last seven outings for Georgia Southwestern (8-8, 3-7).
 
Pruitt, who came into the game needing just five boards to break the league's rebounding record, finished with 10 rebounds, including the record-breaking offensive rebound with 6:13 left in the first half. The performance moved him past former Georgia College standout Isaac Thomas who tallied 913 rebounds from 2015-19.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: UNC Pembroke 88, Georgia Southwestern 72 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke (14-4, 8-2 PBC); Georgia Southwestern (8-8, 3-7 PBC) LOCATION: Americus, Ga. (Storm Dome)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

The Braves shot 51.4 percent from the field and put together an 18-3 run to build a double-digit lead by the 12:02 mark of the opening half. Georgia Southwestern scored seven-straight points to forge an early 7-3 advantage, but Akia Pruitt's layup with 17-1/2 minute left before the break sparked the game-changing run that watched the Black & Gold convert on seven of its 15 field goal attempts (.467), including a pair of 3-pointers. The visitors would eventually lug a 48-34 lead into the locker rooms.

2ND HALF

Georgia Southwestern cut into its deficit thanks to Jalen Cameron's layup just 32 seconds into the second stanza, but Tyrell Kirk cashed in on a 3-pointer on the other end of the court to signal a modest 11-3 run that gave UNCP a 20-point advantage, 59-39, just more than three minutes later. The Hurricanes chipped away at their deficit and trailed by just 10 points, 68-58, following Abdul Dial's layup with 8:31 to play, but the Braves held Georgia Southwestern at arm's length the rest of the way out.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior Tyrell Kirk scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half, and complemented his offensive numbers with seven rebounds and a block. + Senior Akia Pruitt finished his day with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including five of the offensive variety. Saturday's showing marked the seventh double-double outing of the season for the Winston-Salem native. + Senior Shaun Kirk came off of the bench to post 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting in just 12 minutes of action. + Senior Carson Mounce and sophomore Jordan Ratliffe both finished with 10 points. Ratliffe added seven rebounds, while Mounce tacked up four boards.

NOTABLES

+ UNCP was 33-for-66 (.500) from the floor on Saturday. It is the 11th time this season that the Braves have converted on at least half of their field goal attempts, and the ninth time in the last 12 outings that they have accomplished that feat. + The Braves have now won seven-straight games in the series with Georgia Southwestern, and improved to 7-3 all-time in Americus, Ga. UNCP is 12-3 in the series since the close of the 2010-11 campaign. + UNCP turned in a pair of blocks on Saturday, and have now registered multiple blocks in 28-straight games. The Braves have now recorded at least one block in 51 consecutive games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.

UP NEXT

The Braves will return to Pembroke on Wednesday evening when they host I-95 rival Francis Marion (3-14, 2-8 PBC) as part of Military Appreciation Night at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

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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.