DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The 24th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team nearly 50 percent from the field, but 25th-ranked Catawba made good on 39-of-51 attempts from the free throw line to key a 98-94 overtime victory against the Braves on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament inside the UNG Convocation Center.
The last four games for the Braves (23-7) have been in overtime. The Black & Gold fall to 19-26 all-time against Catawba (23-5), who will face No. 14 North Georgia on Sunday.
| THE BASICS |
SCORE: #25 Catawba 98, #24 UNC Pembroke 94 (OT)
RECORDS: UNC Pembroke 23-7, Catawba 23-5
LOCATION: Dahlonega, Ga. (UNG Convocation Center) |
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| HOW IT HAPPENED |
| 1ST HALF |
| UNC Pembroke shot 46.4 percent from the field in the opening half and took an 18-11 lead after a pair of free throws from Jamarvious Jones with 8:21 on the clock. Catawba worked its deficit back to 21-14, but the Braves would push their lead out to 25-14 moments later with a layup from Dallas Gardner at the six-minute mark. The Indians put together an 11-6 run to trim their deficit back to 31-25 with a triple from Kaleb Wallace with 2:32 remaining in the half, but JaJuan Carr drained a floating jumping as time expired to send the teams to the locker rooms with UNC Pembroke holding a 35-30 lead. |
| 2ND HALF |
| Catawba started the half on an 8-4 scoring surge to cut its deficit back to 39-38 just three minutes into the period, but UNC Pembroke scored the next seven points to extend its lead out to 46-38 with 13:40 on the clock. The Indians worked the score back to 60-56 with an 8-0 run, but back-to-back three's from Elijah Cobb and Bradlee Haskell padded UNCP's lead, 66-56 with six minutes remaining in regulation. The Braves too their largest lead of the night, 75-63, with a layup from Dallas Gardner with 3:27 on the clock, and would eventually lead 82-73 after Amare Miller's old-fashioned three-point play with 72 seconds left to play in regulation. UNCP was just 1-for-6 from the free throw line in the final seconds, as Catawba closed out the frame on a 9-1 run to send the game into overtime. |
| OVERTIME |
| Josh Berenbaum knocked down a triple from the corner followed by a driving layup from Dallas Gardner to give UNC Pembroke a 93-89 lead with 1:11 on the clock. Catawba put together a 7-0 run to give the Indians a 96-93 advantage with 11 seconds left on the clock. |
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| INSIDE THE BOX SCORE |
+ Nygell Verdier finished with a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. The junior was 8-for-15 from the field and had three assists and two steals in 39 minutes of action.
+ JuJaun Carr turned in 16 points on a 6-for-15 shooting performance. Carr pulled down seven rebounds, had five assists, three steals and one block in 40 minutes of work.
+ Dallas Gardner and Amare Miller each came off of the bench to add key scoring. Gardner finished with 14 points, while Miller registered 15 points. |
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| NOTABLES |
+ UNC Pembroke shot 49.3 percent from the floor, while Catawba shot 41.5 percent from the floor.
+ The Braves were just 20-for-37 (54.1%) from the free throw line, while the Indians were 39-for-51 (76.5%) from the charity stripe.
+ The Black & Gold posted a 54-32 advantage with points in the paint. Catawba scored 29 points from UNCP's 17 turnovers.
+ UNCP held the lead for 79.6 percent of Saturday's contest. |
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| UP NEXT |
| Season Complete. |
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| STAY CONNECTED |
| Follow UNCP Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" UNCP Men's Basketball on Facebook. |
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| BACK THE BRAVES |
| 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. |
