LAKELAND, Fla. — No. 8 UNC Pembroke men’s basketball trailed by as many 10 points late in the first half, but the Braves shot nearly 53% in the second half to guide them to a 78-73 victory over Emporia State on Saturday at the Small College Hall of Fame Classic.

The Braves (1-0) have now won their season opener in seven of the last eight seasons. The Hornets (0-1) scored 17 points off of 18 UNCP turnovers during Saturday’s contest.

Five consecutive points from Emporia State gave the Hornets a 20-15 lead with 12:11 remaining in the first half. A layup from Javonte Waverly minutes later gave UNC Pembroke a 21-20 lead. Both teams shot 51.1% from the field during the frame, and the Hornets took what would be their largest lead of the night, 40-30, following a dunk from Atavian Butler. The Braves closed out the half on an 8-0 run to head to the locker room trailing 40-38.

JaJuan Carr’s jumper in the paint tied the score at 48 apiece just five minutes into the second half. A Josh Berenbaum trey on the next possession gave the Braves the lead for good, 51-50 with 13 minutes left in regulation. UNCP shot better than 52% from the field and used a 10-0 run capped off by a layup from Amare Miller with 49 seconds left to fuel the outcome.

Miller scored a game and career-high 24 points on 12-for-13 shooting. The sophomore also pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds for his third career double-double.

Elijah Cobb turned in 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. JaJuan Carr also added 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting and dished out five assists.

UNC Pembroke scored an impressive 56 points in the paint and limited Emporia State to 34 points in the paint.

During Saturday’s contest, there were eight lead changes and five times of the score being tied.

The Braves added 21 second chance points while the Hornets had just seven.

The Black & Gold picked up 18 points from its bench and posted a 41-32 advantage on the boards.

The Braves will face Florida Southern on Sunday for the final day of the Small College Hall of Fame Classic. Tipoff is slated for 5:45 p.m. inside the Jenkins Fieldhouse.

Braves men 7th, women 12th at NCAA Southeast Regional

Personal bests from all six runners on the men’s side propelled the Braves to a seventh place finish in the 10K race, while Moureen Kimaiyo finished 14th individually to lead the Braves to a 12th place finish on the women’s side in the 6K race.

Sophomore Norman Junker crossed in 35th at 31:18.4, redshirt senior Delsin Burkhart finished 55th at 32:06.3, with redshirt senior Hunter Levy behind him in 58th at 32:12.7. Sophomore Elisha Kipsang (32:43.1) finished 67th, redshirt junior Bryan Viera (33:16.1) crossed 87th, with freshman Payden Lewis (33:20.20) finishing 92nd to round the men’s side.

Junker (10th), Burkhart (23rd), and Levy (25th) now all hold top-25 times in school history in the 10K.

Freshman standout Moureen Kimaiyo followed up her Conference Carolinas championship with again being the top runner from the conference, finishing 14th at 22:24.0, with junior Jackline Kosgei behind her in 26th at 22:54.8, and sophomore Karen Piro crossing 86th at 24:51.5. Freshman Malea Bennewitz (24:57.2) was 90th, freshman Mariah Spencer (28:32.9) crossed 144th, with senior Jazmine Lorenzo (29:22.5) finishing 154th to round out the women’s side.

Kimaiyo ran the 11th-fastest 6K in school history, while Kosgei etched her name in the record book once more, running the 20th-fastest time in school history, and now holds eight of the top-25 times in the 6K.

UNCP volleyball sweeps Barton on senior day

The UNC Pembroke volleyball team recorded 10 service aces and hit .200 from the net on the way to a 3-0 (25-18 25-22, 25-21) sweep over Barton on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

Saturday’s victory for the Braves (17-13, 11-5 CC) marked the fourth straight win as UNCP finishes with a 9-3 record when playing in Pembroke. The setback for the Bulldogs (9-16, 5-11 CC) snapped a two game winning streak and fall to 2-8 when playing on the road.

UNC Pembroke used a quick start and took a 9-5 first-set lead following a kill from Vanja Przulj. Barton went on a 7-0 run to take a 14-13 lead, but the Braves hit .196 from the net and closed out the set on a 12-4 run, winning 25-18.

The Bulldogs put together a 5-0 scoring surge to lead the second set 11-8, but the Braves would tie the score at 12 apiece after a service ace from Katelynn Swain. Barton scored five consecutive points and took a 20-18 lead, but UNCP hit a match-best .237 from the net and finished the set on a 7-2 run to win 25-22.

Barton won the first five points of the third set and used a kill from Henly Sleight to lead 14-8. UNC Pembroke rallied back and used a 4-0 run to take a 22-20 lead, and won three of the final four points to win the set 25-21 and claim the match.

Przulj had 15 kills and 16 digs for UNCP. Ruby Countryman had 12 kills, Katelyn West had seven kills, Katie Pressley had 38 assists and 12 digs, Kyleigh Coghlan had 10 digs, Swain had two blocks and three aces, Tyler Patterson had three aces and Hope Turbyfill had two aces.

The Braves will play their final game of the regular season on Monday when they travel to play Mount Olive. First serve is set for 6 p.m. inside Kornegay Arena.