By Nicholas Kolsin
The UNCP Braves (1-4) lost to the Fayetteville State Broncos 76-75 on Wednesday night. Despite the loss, Senior guard Bradlee Haskell scored his 1,00th point in the contest.
Bradlee Haskell finished the game with 21 points shooting 3/6 from three in the game. JaJuan Carr had a career game scoring his career high in points (20), minutes (34), field goals made (8), and three point attempts (5). Off the bench, Joe’l Pettiford also had his best game as a Brave scoring 17 points and 7 rebounds.
Elijah Cobb won the tip and the game was underway with a nice layup inside for JaJuan Carr for the first points of the night. On the next possession, Bradlee Haskell would get fouled, hitting both free throw shots giving the Braves the early 4-0 lead.
After the Broncos took the lead 7-4 with 16:50 to play, big man Cobb would knock down a wing three to knot the game at 7. On the next possession, Dallas Gardner would come off the bench to find Haskell for a corner three to take the lead back.
Joe’l Pettiford would get to the paint and hit a tough layup to make it 17-11 Braves with 11:56 left in the first half. With the score 19-16, Haskell would take over again scoring on back to back possessions, getting fouled on the second and making the free throw, on tough mid range jumpers making it 24-16 Braves. These points gave Haskell his 1000th point as a Brave in his impressive 4 year career.
With 6:13 left in the half, Pettiford would get a nice putback layup to give the Braves a 32-20 lead going into the media timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Haskell would show his worth on the defensive end, taking a charge and giving the braves the ball back.
Then the Braves went on a scoring drought allowing an 8-0 run with 3 minutes left in the half with the lead being cut down to just 3. Cobb was able to slow down the run by getting to the line and making both free throws to make it 34-29.
Broncos’ Kennedy was able to make it a 1 point game on a three with 1:20 left in the half. Pettiford would respond inside with a dunk. Fletcher from the Broncos would take the lead with a three from the top of the key with 25 seconds left in the half.
With the clock winding down, Haskell would take up a three missing it, but getting fouled on the way up to shoot three shots with a chance to take the lead/tie going into half. He would make 2/3 and tie the game at 39 going into the halftime break.
Out of half, Carr would hit a three from the wing to retake the lead 42-39. This would start a 7-0 run to start the second half that ended with Carr once again hitting a layup inside.
With 16:52 left, Pettiford would deliver a mean block to the Broncos player leading to an And-1 from Haskell the other way to make it 49-42.
The Broncos would cut it to 2 before Elijah Cobb would make a nice turnaround layup in the paint to make it 51-47. The Broncos would cut it to 2 again with 11:40 to go and then tie it on the next possession on a second chance basket.
Pettiford would weather the storm for the Braves as he came down and hit a nice and one turnaround jumper, missing the free throw but giving the Braves the lead again. With the game tied again, Quay Watkins would lay it in to again take the lead and then get the steal on the other end. After the timeout, Watkins would once again score bringing the lead to 4.
The Broncos would tie the game back up at 59 on 2 free throws with 8:45 to go. They would take the 2 point lead on the next possession. Carr would get fouled on a shot for the Braves, tying it once again.
With 6:21 to go, the Broncos would take a 4 point lead on free throws. Pettiford would hit a layup inside on a nice pass from Haskell to make it a 2 point deficit. Down 4 again, Carr would twirl off a defender and hit a layup making it 2 again. The Broncos would then go 1/2 from the line with 5 minutes to play to give them a 3 point lead.
The Braves would take a charge on the next possession giving them the ball back with a chance to tie. Carr would once again drive through contact to cut the Broncos lead to one. Free throws for the Broncos brought it back up to 3.
The Braves biggest problem tonight was the fouls. The Broncos would once again capitalize on a Braves foul taking a five point lead on free throws with 3 to go.
Watson would once again come up big driving the baseline and cutting the lead to 3 with 2 minutes to go. The Braves would once again foul giving the Broncos two points on free throws and going down 5 again with 1:51 to play. Carr would go down the other way with 1:25 left and make an and-one layup making the free throw cutting the lead to just 2.
Haskell would get the ball on the wing with 36 seconds left in the game down two. Without hesitation, he would pull it, draining it and giving the Braves a 1 point 76-75 lead. Needing a stop, the Braves would let up an offensive rebound and then once again foul the shooter on the way up with 17 to play. He would make both taking the 1 point lead back forcing a Braves timeout.
Needing a shot to win, Carr would take the ball at the top of the key, drive, and miss the midrange jumper to lose the game 76-75.
The Braves will be back at home on Saturday vs Virginia State at 2 p.m.