BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Rookie Dante Bowlding picked up Mountain East Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year laurels, while fellow newcomer Jai’Veon Smalls was crowned as the league’s Offensive Freshman of the Year, to highlight a big day for the UNC Pembroke football team on Thursday.

Junior quarterback Josh Jones and senior defensive back/return specialist Devin Jones were lauded with first team all-MEC honors, while the Black & Gold sent a sextet of players to second team recognition, including senior Gage Baldwin (offensive line), juniors Joseph Early (running back) and Ben Jaramillo (defensive line), sophomores Trey Dixon (wide receiver) and Masanka Kanku (defensive line), and Smalls (wide receiver).

Junior Shammond Hicks (wide receiver) and Bowlding were lauded with honorable mention all-MEC honors. The honors marked the program’s first-ever all-conference awards, as UNCP competed for the first time as an associate member of the MEC in 2020-21

Bowlding, a Fayetteville native and Terry Sanford High School product, amassed 14 tackles (12 solo) in his first season in the Black & Gold, while also logging one tackle for loss (-11 yards), one interception and a forced fumble. He tallied a pair of solo stops and forced a fumble in his collegiate debut against Glenville State, and tallied a season-high five stops on UNCP’s road trip to Charleston (W.Va.).

Smalls led the Braves in both receiving yards (214) and receptions (20) in his rookie campaign, including a season-best 6-catch, 73-yard performance in the spring season finale against Frostburg State in Pembroke. The Richmond, Va., product logged two catches for 32 yards in his collegiate debut against Glenville State, and registered six catches in each of his last three outings of the abbreviated spring campaign.

Josh Jones threw for 1,194 yards and a dozen touchdowns on 94-of-142 (.662) passing with four interceptions. He earned MEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns in the season-opening victory over Glenville State, while also tacking up three passing touchdowns against both West Virginia State and Frostburg State. Jones also ran for 86 yards during the spring season, including a career-best 64 rushing yards (15 carries) in the setback to Frostburg State.

Devin Jones, a first-team selection at both defensive back and return specialist, ranked third on the team with 17 tackles (13 solo), while also turning in one interception, five pass break-ups, a lone quarterback hurry and a blocked kick. He turned in a season-high four tackles in the season finale against Frostburg State, while logging a trio of stops, two pass break-ups and an interception in the spring opener with Glenville State. A special teams threat as well, he returned eight punts for 53 yards, while also logging 114 yards on 10 kickoff returns, including a season-long 45-yard return on the opening kickoff of UNCP’s contest at Charleston.

UNCP softball listed in NCAA regional rankings

The UNC Pembroke softball team has been listed as one of the teams under consideration for selection into the NCAA Division II Championships, the organization announced Wednesday. The announcement marked the second-straight week that the Braves have been listed among the eligible teams.

Due to the disparity of games played this season and the limited data available, schools are listed as “under consideration” for championship selection in alphabetical order, rather than ranked in order from a strengths-based perspective.

Six teams will be selected from each of the eight regions for the NCAA postseason. The NCAA Southeast Region’s automatic qualifiers include tournament winners from the Peach Belt Conference, South Atlantic Conference, and Conference Carolinas. In addition, there will be three other teams that will be selected as at-large participants based on the region rankings.

The NCAA Southeast Regional will be played May 19-21 in Dahlonega, Ga., on the campus of the North Georgia. The eight region champions will advance to the NCAA National Championships, May 27-31, in Denver, Colo.

The Braves joined North Georgia and Young Harris as teams from the PBC that are under consideration.

Lady Braves basketball adds two transfers

UNC Pembroke women’s basketball head coach John Haskins announced two additions to his 2021-22 roster on Thursday as transfer student-athletes Lillian Flantos and Amazriah Rawls declared their intentions to continue their athletic and academic careers with the Braves.

“We are very excited to have Amazriah and Lillian join our program,” Haskins said. “Both are outstanding young ladies with college experience and should make a significant impact on our program.”

Flantos, a redshirt sophomore, comes to Pembroke from USC Upstate after playing two seasons for the Spartans. Rawls will trek to Pembroke with all four years of eligibility remaining after redshirting her freshman season at Peach Belt Conference rival Georgia Southwestern. Both in-state products will use their one-time immediate transfer waiver, and will both be eligible to compete immediately for the Braves.