UNC Pembroke Advances, Belmont Abbey Falls in NCAA Division II Southeast Regional First Round
BAC BOX | UNCP BOX | AUGUSTA, Ga. – No. 11 UNC Pembroke, the fourth seed in the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Southeast Regional, overcame a double-digit halftime deficit to advance to the second round while eighth-seeded Belmont Abbey fell to No. 5 Augusta, the top seed and host of the regional, at George A. Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturday.
UNC Pembroke faced No. 25 and fifth-seed Flagler in the opening round and led early with the teams trading baskets over the first 14 points before the Saints from St. Augustine, Florida used a 30-17 run over the final 14:36 of the first half to take a 13-point, 37-24 lead.
Tyrell Kirk took over in the second half for the Braves as he scored the first six points of the period to cut the deficit to seven, 37-30. It was part of an 18-5 Braves’ run that was capped by a Kirk and-1 to tie the game at 42 with 14 minutes to play. The teams again traded hoops and the lead until a Jordan Ratliffe 3-pointer broke a 56-56 tie to give UNCP the lead for good. It sparked an 11-3 run that gave the Pembroke, North Carolina program their largest lead of the game, 67-59, with 2:28 left. The Braves hit all four of their free throws in the final 42 seconds to cap a 50-point second half in the 74-70 victory.
Ratliffe and Kirk each scored 22 points to lead UNC Pembroke while Deon Berrien added 11 points. Spencer Levi grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to go with six points in the win. Jaizec Lottie paced the Saints’ offense with a game-high 23 points.
The Braves will face the host Jags in the second round on Sunday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The Jags beat Belmont Abbey on Saturday night, 106-77. The Crusaders were able to hang close early, but a 13-2 run gave the home team a 10-point lead and Belmont Abbey could never recover. Augusta led 54-32 at the half and Belmont Abbey never got the stops and offensive rhythm they needed to overcome the top seed.
Sean Halloran and Chandler Baker led the Crusaders’ offense with 12 points each while LJ McCoy added 11 and Bosko Bojovic chipped in 10. Ja’Queze Kirby led the Jags with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds while three other players finished in double figures.
UNC Pembroke will battle another former conference foe in Augusta against whom they are 17-44 all-time, but 5-5 in the last 10 meetings. The teams split their last two regular-season meetings in 2020 with each winning at home. The Braves are 8-24 in Augusta with their last road win in the series coming on Jan. 16, 2019, a 93-88 victory.
Live stats for the contest are available here while live video is available
here. The Southeast Regional website can be found
here while the interactive NCAA Tournament bracket is
here.