Balanced Braves dominate SWU

Feb. 2—PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke men's basketball team entered Wednesday's home game against Southern Wesleyan on an offensive tear, with 46 or more points scored in their previous five halves of basketball.

A balanced offensive night allowed the offensive efficiency to continue, with five Braves scoring in double figures as UNCP was dominant from the start in an 86-64 win.

"(Balance) is really helpful because you don't just have to count on one guy to make shots," UNCP coach Drew Richards said. "If someone's off in the first group, we've got a guy coming off the bench that's shooting as good of a percentage and they can provide that firepower to you. And I think that goes for defense as well."

Elijah Cobb and Javonte Waverly each led the way for UNCP (22-1, 14-1 Conference Carolinas) with 14 points each, with Cobb recording a double-double with 10 rebounds; Waverly had six rebounds. Bradlee Haskell had 12 points and three assists, JaJuan Carr scored 11 points with four assists and Amare Miller added 11 points.

"I just went to get the ball every time," Cobb said. "I know I'm capable; I can do that every game if I really want to, but I've got to have the mindset to keep doing that."

UNCP, ranked No. 5 in Division II in both national polls, shot 56.7% for the game (34-for-60), with a 54.8% mark or better in each half, and went 8-for-19 from distance (42.1%).

The Braves held a double-digit advantage just five minutes into the game, taking a 14-4 lead. Jakari Gallon had four points in the stretch and Bradlee Haskell and JaJuan Carr each made 3s. The Braves extended the lead to 27-12 halfway through the first half after a Nygell Verdier alley-oop from Cortez Marion-Holmes and another Haskell triple.

Southern Wesleyan (3-19, 3-11 CC) crept closer, outscoring the Braves 13-6 during a late-half stretch to cut UNCP's lead to 38-30 with 2:36 on the clock; the Braves led 42-32 at halftime.

Richards wasn't pleased with his team's first-half defensive effort, as SWU shot 50% (13-for-26) in the half; the Warriors struggled to a 35.5% mark (11-for-31) from the floor in the second half as the Braves played better on the defensive end.

"We actually defended (in the second half)," Richards said. "That helps. I was very disappointed in our first-half defense. As this team tries to grow up and mature they've got to understand that they can't just pick and choose when they decide to defend."

UNCP's lead stayed between eight and 14 points early in the second half before an 8-0 run created permanent separation, giving the Braves a 60-41 lead with 12:19 to go. Javonte Waverly had six of the team's eight points in the span.

"We just needed a boost," Waverly said. "Like coach said, first half we came out kind of shaky and everybody wasn't there. The second half, we needed a boost, and I came off the bench with a boost."

The Warriors never got closer than a 14-point deficit the rest of the way; an 11-2 run put the Braves up 77-53 with 5:38 to play.

Southern Wesleyan's Bryson Felder scored 20 points with four rebounds, Tyrin Hollis had 14 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals and Griffin Effenberger scored eight points with three assists and three steals.

Lady Braves pull away late

It's frequently said that basketball is a game of runs, and that most any game will have its ebbs and flows. Sometimes its the timing of those turns in momentum that can be so critical.

A fourth-quarter run by The University of North Carolina at Pembroke women's basketball team couldn't have been timed better, helping the Lady Braves to pull away from Southern Wesleyan in a 64-52 win.

A UNCP (16-7, 13-2 CC) lead that was once 15 points was cut to 50-46 after Southern Wesleyan made a 10-0 run; the Lady Braves responded with a 12-2 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes to take a 62-48 lead with 3:06 to go.

"I think we were a little more aggressive and got to the free-throw line a little more in that stretch," UNCP coach John Haskins said. "For a long time ... we just weren't getting it inside and attacking, we weren't attacking from the perimeter. We tried to get it inside a little bit more, and then we knocked down some shots too, and got some stops defensively. ... I thought our team responded very well to that."

Alcenia Purnell began the pivotal run with a 3, then Zaria Clark — who had scored four points before the run — hit two free throws and a jumper; Lillian Flantos' jumper made it a 59-46 Braves lead.

Clark hit two more free throws and Courtney Smith hit one to complete the run, after which the Warriors never got closer than a 12-point margin.

"When I came to the sideline, coach said 'are you going to be aggressive any day?'" said Clark, who had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with five assists. "So I was like, well, I guess I'll try to do something, something will happen on the offensive end."

UNCP made 11 of its 24 3-point attempts on the night (45.8%) and assisted on 17 of its 21 made field goals in the game.

"Once you know someone's feeling hot, as a good teammate you want to keep giving them the ball, and we all want to see each other win," Clark said.

Smith threatened a triple-double for the Braves with 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Kelci Adams scored 11 points for UNCP and Kalaya Hall had eight.

Brittany Mack led SWU with 16 points, Shelby Glance scored 13 points with nine rebounds and Lexi Greffen had 12 points.

The Warriors shot 5-for-9 from 3-point range in the first quarter and led 17-15 at the end of the period. UNCP outscored SWU 17-6 in the second quarter to take a 32-23 lead at halftime.

"They shot it great in the first quarter, and that's what they can do, they make you stretch the floor and they shoot it well," Haskins said. "We knew it'd be a tough game, just the way they shoot the ball, and after the first quarter we were pretty solid defensively and that's what won it for us."

SWU closed to 35-30 early in the third quarter; UNCP went on a 10-0 run to take a 45-30 lead, behind 3s from Adams and Smith. A 6-0 spurt to end the period pulled the Warriors to a 45-36 deficit entering the fourth.

The Braves went up 50-36, after an Adams 3 and two Hannah Russell free throws, before SWU's 10-0 fourth-quarter run. Mack hit a 3 with 6:43 to go to cut the UNCP lead to four.

UNCP's men and women each play Saturday at Converse.

Chris Stiles can be reached at 910-816-1977 or by email at cstiles@robesonian.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.