Braves Men’s Basketball Team Pulls a Trifecta of Wins

Spencer Levi winning the jump ball for the Braves against Emmanuel College. PN Photo/Mykayla Brady

By: Victor Mays, Reporter

The men’s basketball team is on a roll this week. They left the court with three consecutive wins giving them 20 wins for the season. This marks the 14th time in program history that UNCP Men’s Basketball has recorded 20 wins in a season.

Emmanuel vs. Pembroke, Jan. 29
The Braves faced Emmanuel on Jan. 29 at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court. Emmanuel started out strong with a free throw that ended up creating a 21-9 lead less than eight minutes into the game’s first half. Over the course of the next six minutes the Braves were able to chip away at the score until eventually they came to the locker room with 39-36 at halftime. By the second half the Braves took down Emmanuel for the win with a score of 80-59. Redshirt freshman Trenton McIntyre scored sixteen points as well as six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Redshirt Senior Spencer Levi was able to tally sixteen points also. He followed that up with three blocks and a pair of assists. Redshirt Senior Tyrell Kirk came to bring in ten points, four rebounds and four assists. Redshirt senior Deon Berrien clocked in eleven points and five rebounds.

Pembroke @ King, Feb. 4
The very next week the Braves faced off against King in Bristol, Tenn. They played at the Student Center Complex. Pembroke had a rough first half of cold shooting. King had a 42-39 lead going into the locker rooms. Redshirt freshman Nate Dunlop used a layup to get ahead in the game. However, for the remainder of the first half, the host had the lead. While the first half was mostly in King’s favor, in the second half the Braves gained the upper hand. The Braves had a game changing run that lasted nearly eight minutes and gave Pembroke not only the upper hand but a double-digit lead. In the end the Braves pulled a victory coming in at 87-68 Kirk had twenty + points in a row for four games. He had five rebounds and three assists. Berrien put in nine points as well as ten rebounds. Levi scored thirteen points with one steal and eight rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Jakari Gallon and Dunlop made eleven and ten points.

Pembroke @ Lees-McRae, Feb. 5
The final game this week sees Pembroke going against Lees-McRae. They played in Banner Elk, N.C. at the Williams Gymnasium. The game was very close in its first half with both teams being able to grab the lead at multiple points throughout the game. The first half ended with the Braves in a 42-40 lead. The final score showed Pembroke in the lead with 100 – 83.
“We knew that the Lees Mcrae game was going to be a big one for us to win. They are a pretty good team and we knew that they were going to give us their best shot,” Jordan Rattliffe said.
Redshirt junior Jordan Ratliffe ran up a record game and career high with 30 points. He also put in five rebounds and two steals. Kirk scored twenty-two points. Levi scored a total of thirteen points and eleven rebounds. McIntyre scored fourteen points that night.