Javonte Waverly scored 14 points in the Southern vs. Pembroke game. PN Photo/Mykayla Brady
By: Nicole Cook, Reporter
The Braves suffered an upset against the 3rd ranked team in the Conference Carolinas, Southern Wesleyan. Since then, the Brave have managed to steer back on track and now boast a winning streak once again.
Southern Wesleyan vs. Pembroke, Feb. 11
The Braves took on the Warriors at home and though it was a close scoring game, the Warriors took the win at 98-88. Tyrell Kirk and Spencer Levi were the high scorers of the game.
Kirk scored 18 points to help keep the team challenging Southern Wesleyan all night. Levi also had a high scoring game with 17 points of his own and also the highest number of rebounds at 10, highest number of made free throws at 5-8 and the highest number of assists at four.
The Braves had a free throw percentage of 60.9% sinking 14 out of 23 shots. Although this game was an upset according to conference standings, the Braves are still leading the conference with a record of 17-2 and 20-2 overall.
“We gotta get better. We talked about it today, ya know, we got enough motivation in this world in a lot of ways to keep improving. It might be a light day but if we come with the mentality that we gotta improve, we gotta get ready for a tough road game Saturday and a tough environment then that’s what we should do,” Head Coach Drew Richardson said.
Belmont Abbey vs. Pembroke, Feb. 12
UNCP defeated the Cobras 91-75 at the English E. Jones Center in Pembroke. The Braves went into the second half leading 40-37 and then dominated the second half 51-38.
Trenton McIntyre had a game-high of 19 points. Spencer Levi tied a game-high 9 rebounds, Deon Berrien had 6 assists and a game-high 4 steals and Jakari Gallon had a game-high 3 blocks. The Braves shot 59.3 % from the free-throw line, sinking 16 of their 27 attempts.
Mount Olive vs. Pembroke, Feb. 16
The Braves winning-streak after they defeated the Trojans at home on Friday night and winning 101–84.
The Trojans hung with the Braves in the early part of the first quarter but extended their lead with about 10 minutes left in the quarter. The Braves ended the first half up 46-37.
The Braves came out strong in the second half and kept the Trojans in a scoring drought for the first 4 minutes of the half while they added 8 more points to their lead.
The Braves had a 24 point lead 6 minutes in. About halfway through the second half the scores were 81-59, and the Braves ended the half having scored 55 more points in comparison to Mount Olive’s added 47.
Spencer Levi had a game-high 24 points and a game-high in rebounds at 10. Levi was also the player of the week for the Carolinas. Tyrell Kirk recorded a game-high 6 assists. UNCP had 22 assists overall and made 13 of their 19 free-throw
attempts, putting them at 68.4% accuracy on the free-throw line.
Pembroke vs. Erskine, Feb. 19
The Braves headed to Erskine University to face off against the Flying Fleet at the Belk Arena in Due West, South Carolina. The Braves’ Levi Spencer scored first off a free throw 2 minutes in, and the Fleet pulled ahead off a steal and layup at 9-7 with 14 minutes left in the half.
The turning point came when Jordan Ratliffe made a 3-pointer assisted by Bradlee Haskell with 12:31 left on the clock. This put the Braves just ahead at 12-11, but they would remain in the lead for the rest of the half and finish with a score of 41-32.
After halftime, UNCP took the lead right away with Trenton McIntyre getting fouled on a fastbreak, then sinking a couple free throws to start out the half.
The Braves continued to put distance between them and the Fleet on the scoreboard and ended the game on a dunk from Jakari Gallon with 9 seconds left on the clock, making the final score 91-72. Spencer Levi was the high-scorer of the game with 18 points and 2 blocks.
“I think that’s probably one of the reasons why we’re so good at what we do and everything. We’re around each other every single day so when we talk about ‘it’s a family, it’s a “brotherhood” it truly is,” Levi said. Levi hit the 1,000 point mark this past week since the start of his career with UNCP in 2018.
Trenton McIntyre had the game-high of 9 rebounds, and he and Bradlee Haskell both led the Braves in personal assists at 3 each. Javonte Waverly tied a game-high 3 steals with the Fleet’s Jaylen Prioleau, and Pembroke had 9 steals overall. UNCP was 70% from the charity stripe and sunk 37% of their 3-pointers against Erskine.