Nick Kolsin, Sports Reporter
The UNC Pembroke Women’s basketball team defeated the Erskine Flying Fleet in a hard-fought Conference Carolina match Saturday afternoon. The Braves stout defense and ability to hit shots late in the game helped propel them to a 61-46 victory. The Braves with the win improved to 17-6 on the season (11-2 in CC). With the loss the Flying Fleet fall to 3-18 (1-13 in CC).
“Expected a tough game they (Erskine) made shots early then I thought we responded well got a halftime lead and then just struggled to score in the third period, we got the shots and just couldn’t score and turned the ball over a couple of times. But proud that we came back and closed out the win,” UNCP’s women’s basketball coach John Haskins said.
It was a shaky start for the Braves as they went down 9-2 early after a couple three pointers from the Flying Fleet. Then, Kelci Adams hit back-to-back threes to bring the Braves within one with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. The teams traded basket for basket to close out the quarter, with Kalaya Hall capping of the quarter with a coast-to-coast layup through traffic to make it a 14-13 Braves after one complete.
To start the second quarter Braves Courtney Smith hit two free throws to give the braves a 15-14 lead and they never looked back from there. The Braves went on a 13-0 run to push their lead out while also outscoring the Flying Fleet 20-7 as the second quarter went on to give the Braves a 33-21 lead heading into the locker room at the half.
Erskine started the second half the same way they started the first by hitting multiple threes cutting the braves lead down from 14 to one at the midway point of the third quarter, and eventually trying the game with 1:21 to go in the quarter after a three pointer from Anzya Cook. The Braves responded with a scoring run of their own to regain the advantage and take a 45-39 lead heading into a pivotal fourth quarter. The Braves started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run to start pushing their lead to 50-39 and continued to hold on to their lead while shutting down the Flying Fleet eventually closing out the game with a scoring run to claim the home victory.
Hall led the way for the Braves finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Adams followed with a performance of 15 points, four rebounds and one assists. Aniah McManus finished the afternoon with eight points, three rebounds and one assists. Alcenia Purnell provided a spark off the bench with six points, and two assist. Three Braves each had four points and Hannah Russell finished with two points to round out scoring.
Men’s Basketball Starts Off Hot and Rolls Past Erskine
The UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team wasted no time starting off the game fast against the Erskine Flying Fleet in Conference Carolina’s action Saturday afternoon. The Braves hot start helped them take care of business early and roll to an 88-34 win over the Flying Fleet. With the win the Braves improved to 17-5 on the season and 11-2 in the Conference, meanwhile for the Flying Fleet they fall to 4-18 on the season and 0-14 in the conference.
” I told the guys before the game that this is going to be a maturity game, Erskine is better this year than what they have been in the past and they’ve taken some good teams close to the wire, so I was interested into seeing what type of maturity and I think we did that while starting the game out home and defensively holding them holding them what we needed too and then pushing it back out in the second half. I was happy with the way that we handled playing championship level basketball regardless of a team’s record” UNCP’s men’s basketball coach Drew Richards said.
The Braves started the game off on a 14-0 run before the Flying Fleet managed to score their first basket to make it 18-2 Braves in the first four minutes of the game. The Flying Fleet cooled down the Braves by going on a 6-2 run to make it 20-8 Braves, but UNCP got things rolling again by pouring into their lead with scoring run after scoring run to push their lead to 38-13 and eventually a 41-17 commanding lead at the half.
The Braves kicked off the second half with a 7-0 run to make it 48-17 early in the second half. The Braves continued to pour and pour on each possession they had and pushed their lead to 69-29 and kept rolling to close out the win at home and increase their chances in the Conference Carolina standings.
Dallas Gardner led the way for the Braves finishing with 16 points and three rebounds. Elijah Cobb followed with a performance of 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Nygell Verdier and Bradlee Haskell each combined for 10 points each. Kam O’Connor came off the bench on fire with a performance of nine points. Amare Miller finished with six points, A pair of Braves finished with five points, JaJuan Carr had four points on the afternoon and four players each finished with two points to round out scoring for the Braves.
The Braves will hit the road Thursday when they take on the Barton Bulldogs. Tip-off for the women’s game is slated for 5 p.m. and the men’s game will follow at 7 p.m.