PEMBROKE – The 16^th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team shot better than 54 percent from the field and scored 24 points off of 16 turnovers by Georgia Southwestern as the Braves claimed their first outright Peach Belt Conference title in program history with an 88-65 victory over the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.
 
The victory put an emphatic cap on a 23-win regular season for the Black & Gold (23-5, 17-3 PBC) who improved to 49-7 at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court since the close of the 2015-16 season. It was the eighth-straight loss for Georgia Southwestern (10-16, 5-15), including four-straight setbacks in Pembroke.
 
The top-seeded Braves will now play host to eighth-seeded North Georgia (14-14) in Wednesday's PBC Tournament quarterfinal matchup at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: #16 UNC Pembroke 88, Georgia Southwestern 65 RECORDS: #16 UNC Pembroke (23-5, 17-3 PBC); Georgia Southwestern (10-16, 5-15 PBC) LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

The game was close through the first five minutes of action, but the Braves eventually pushed their lead out to double digits for good on Micah Kinsey's layup at the 10:49 mark. Jabrie Bullard's 3-pointer just less than a minute later sparked a mild 8-2 scoring spurt for the Black & Gold who eventually took its largest lead of the half, 33-16, on a trey from David Strother two minutes later.

2ND HALF

The Braves extended their lead out to 20 points, 61-41, following a layup from Spencer Levi with 12:24 left to play, and led by as many as 27 points, 72-45, after a triple from Jordan Ratliffe four minutes later. The Hurricanes trimmed their deficit back to 17 points, 80-63, on a layup by Jalen Cameron at the 3:22 mark, but UNCP answered with seven-straight points of their own to deal the final dagger.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Akia Pruitt led all scorers with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while also adding six rebounds and three assists. + Senior Micah Kinsey and junior David Strother added 13 points. Kinsey nearly pulled off a double-double by tallying nine assists as well. + Senior Jabrie Bullard scored all 12 of his points on 3-pointers. He was 4-for-5 from the perimeter in the outing. + Jordan Ratliffe came off of the bench to register 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.

NOTABLES

+ Sunday's outcome locked up the PBC regular season title for the Braves. It is their third conference regular season title in the last four years, but the first crown they have claimed outright. + The Braves pushed their home win streak out to nine games, and have not dropped an outing at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court since a 67-64 setback to Georgia College on December 15. + Senior Akia Pruitt finished his afternoon with five rebounds, and needs just six more this season to become the first player in league history to register 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

UP NEXT

UNCP claimed the top seed in the 2020 PBC Men's Basketball Tournament and will play host to eighth-seeded North Georgia on Wednesday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Tipoff is scheduled 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.