PEMBROKE – The 22^nd-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team turned in its best shooting day in nearly two seasons and used a torrid first-half effort to key a 91-72 victory over visiting Columbus State on Saturday afternoon at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
 
It was the second-straight win for the Braves (2-1, 2-0 PBC) who shot nearly 62 percent (32-for-52) from the field on the afternoon, including a 65.5 percent (19-for-29) effort in the second half alone. The result marked just the second loss in the last 10 season openers for the Cougars (0-1, 0-1) who have now come away empty on four of their last five trips to Pembroke.
 

THE BASICS

SCORE: #22 UNC Pembroke 91, Columbus State 72 RECORDS: UNC Pembroke (2-1, 2-0 PBC); Columbus State (0-1, 0-1 PBC) LOCATION: Pembroke, N.C. (Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST HALF

UNCP shot better than 57 percent in the opening stanza, while also forcing 11 turnover and limiting the Cougars to just a 25.8 percent success rate from the field. It was a back-and-forth game for much of the first nine minutes, but two free throws from Jordan Ratliffe at the 10:41 mark sparked the hosts on a game-changing 11-2 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes that gave UNCP some breathing room. The Braves scored eight of the half's final 10 points to tote a 39-22 advantage into the intermission.

2ND HALF

The Cougars trimmed a sizable halftime lead down to just a dozen points in the first 2-1/2 minutes of the second half, but the hosts tacked up six-straight points to pad their lead out to 20 points, 49-29, following a fast-break layup from Jordan Ratliffe at the 15:55 mark. UNCP took its largest lead of the game, 70-47, on a short jumper from Tyrell Kirk with 6:42 left to play before taking its foot off of the gas pedal.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Senior Tyrell Kirk tallied a game-high 19 points on 8-of-12 field goal shooting, while also adding six rebounds and a trio of assists. + Senior Spencer Levi notched his second double-double performance in the last three days, this time scoring 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting while also pulling down 13 boards. + Freshman Trenton McIntyre scored 12 of his career-best 16 points in the first half, and finished Saturday's outing by knocking down 11 of his 12 shot attempts. That included a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. + Junior Jordan Ratliffe went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe to fuel a 14-point day, while redshirt freshman Cortez Marion-Holmes turned in 13 points.

NOTABLES

+ The Braves have now captured 10 of their last 11 home openers, with the only blemish coming on the heels of last season's last-second loss to Mount Olive at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. UNCP is now 51-7 in Pembroke since the close of the 2015-16 campaign. + UNCP shot 61.5 percent from the field against Columbus State on Saturday. That marked the best shooting day for the club since a 61.8 percent shooting performance at Augusta on Jan. 16, 2019. + The Black & Gold shot 0-for-10 from the perimeter against the Cougars on Saturday, marking the first time in nearly seven years (318 games) that the Braves have failed to register at least one made 3-pointer. UNCP went 0-for-7 from downtown in a home overtime victory against North Georgia on Feb. 16, 2013.

UP NEXT

The Black & Gold will open up a short two-game road trip on Wednesday when it heads to central South Carolina to battle Peach Belt Conference rival USC Aiken (2-2, 1-1 PBC) in the back half of a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader in the Convocation Center.

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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.