Haskell completed his personal best of 10 assists. PN Photo/Andrew Thrift.
By Nicole Cook, Sports Editor
UNCP vs. King- Jan. 28
The UNCP men’s basketball team had another impressive performance with a 96-72 victory over King shooting 60% or better from the field for the second time in four days.
The Braves started strong, utilizing a 20-6 run in the first eight minutes to take the lead and maintain it for a 14-game winning streak against King. This is the fastest the program has recorded 21 victories in its 84-year history, surpassing last year’s team which took 23 games to reach 21 wins.
There were several positive performances to note both as a team and as individual performances.
The team was 70% from beyond the arc in the first half and 66.7% overall. Individually,
Sophomore Nygell Verdier led the Braves on the scoreboard with 19 points, a career high of four assists and seven rebounds. Sophomore Javante Waverly and classmate Bradlee Haskell both added 14 more points for Pembroke, and redshirt senior K.J. Walker also contributed 12 points.
Meanwhile, the loss marks the fifth consecutive defeat for the Tornado, who now have a 1-4 record in their series against the Braves. This win keeps the Braves standing tall at eighth in the conference with a record of 21-1,13-1.
UNC Pembroke plays Southern Wesleyan University next on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Lumbee
Guaranty Court.
UNCP vs. Mount Olive- Jan. 25
UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team had a remarkable night, achieving a season-high offensive performance of 108 to Mount Olive’s 83 at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The first half saw a 72.7% shooting rate and a 13-for-21 performance from the perimeter of the 8th-ranked Braves. As a result, Pembroke extended their win streak to 13 games with a 108-83 victory over Mount Olive.
This triumph helped match the record of last season’s 2021-2022 team for the best record in program history through 21 games. Additionally, it earned head coach Drew Richards his 50th victory at UNCP.
Cortez Marion-Holmes, a redshirt freshman, tied his career high against the Trojans putting 23 points on the board by the end of the night. Other outstanding performances came from redshirt senior K.J. Walker who was 4-4 from beyond the arc and with a tied career high of 17 points overall, sophomore Nygell Verdier with his career high of 20 points and sophomore Bradlee
Haskell with his personal best of 10 assists this night. Defensively, redshirt sophomore Elijah Cobb recorded three blocks and three steals.
The loss ended Mount Olive’s three-game win streak (7-13, 5-7), and marked the Trojan’s
seventh loss out of their last eight matchups against the Braves.