UNCP men sail past Lees-McRae
Dec. 4—PEMBROKE — Redshirt junior Jordan Ratliffe tacked up a team-best 21 points to lead a parade of five UNC Pembroke men's basketball players with double-figure scoring nights, as the Braves hit the century mark for the second time this season in a 100-85 victory over Lees-McRae on Friday evening at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
It was the second-straight win for the Braves (6-1, 3-1 CC) who shot better than 56 percent from the field in the second half, and finished the evening with a 28-for-37 clip from the free-throw line. The setback snapped a four-game win streak for the Bobcats (4-2, 2-1) who fell to 1-2 in true road games this season as well.
The Braves led by as many as 10 points, 35-25, in the opening half following a fastbreak layup from Spencer Levi at the 5:40 mark, but Jaylin Stewart's free throw on the other end of court sparked a run of eight-straight points by the Bobcats that made it a one-possession game just more than two minutes later. UNCP would eventually lug a 39-37 advantage into the halftime break.
UNCP scored the first eight points of the second half to pad its lead out to a dozen points, 51-39, by the 17:00 mark and used a 9-2 run minutes later to pad the advantage out to 18 points, 75-57. The hosts led by as many as 22 points, 83-61, following Deon Berrien's driving layup at the 7:04 mark before taking their feet off of the gas pedal. A pair of free throws from newcomer Bradlee Haskell with 28 seconds left marked the final scoring in the contest.
Redshirt junior Jordan Ratliffe led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-14 field goal shooting, as well as a 5-for-7 showing from the free throw line. He also added a trio of steals and two assists.
Senior Deon Berrien scored 10 of his season-high 19 points in the second half, and also logged five assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Senior Tyrell Kirk and freshman Trenton McIntyre each posted a dozen points. McIntyre also tallied a career-best seven assists.
Friday's offensive output marked the second time this season that UNCP has reached or surpassed the 100-point plateau (a 110-73 win over Erskine on Nov. 20).
The Braves have now out-rebounded 19-straight opponents dating back to a win over USC Aiken on Feb. 19, 2020. UNCP has posted double-digit rebounded disparities 12 times across that stretch.
The Black & Gold finished Friday's outing with 28 made free throws — their most since finishing with 30 made free throws (35 attempts) in a road win over Clayton State on Jan. 26, 2019.
UNCP will get a short rest before taking the court again on Saturday afternoon to battle King (4-2, 2-2 CC) in the back half of a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. The Tornado were 98-82 victors at Francis Marion on Friday.
