Braves men dominate Mount Olive

PEMBROKE — The UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team started off fast and propelled themselves to a dominant win over the Mount Olive Trojans Wednesday night. A 97-73 win improved the Braves to 16-4 on the season and a Conference Carolinas record of 10-1.

The Braves jumped out to an early 6-3 lead and a 11-0 run sparked a huge lead for the Braves that was topped off with back-to-back 3-pointers by Javonte Waverly to take a 24-9 lead halfway through the first half. The defense of UNCP stepped up big to close the first half while continuing to pour into their scoring, taking a 47-24 heading into the locker room.

The Trojans (5-15, 4-6 CC) took advantage of a slow start by UNCP in the second half to slowly chip away at the Braves lead, but the Braves kept rolling extending their lead to 57-36. The Trojans refused to quit and continued to cut into the lead as the game went on. The Braves lead 69-53 with less than 10 minutes to go. The Braves got things rolling, including 45 points from their bench, to seal things and take the win at home.

“I didn’t think we started the second half with the intensity we needed, and we gave them some confidence and they started to make some shots,” UNCP coach Drew Richards said. “So, when you give Mount Olive confidence, who’s a good offensive team, it really starts pushing you back. I was proud of how we were able to show some resiliency even though they chipped away. We’ve gotta be able to start the second half better.”

Nygell Verdier led the way for the Braves finishing with 18 points and seven rebounds, Bradlee Haskell followed with 12 points and three rebounds. Cortez Marion Holmes finished the night with a performance of 10 points and eight rebounds.

“Once we started feeding the bigs they started collapsing the bigs so they opened up the perimeter, so we started hitting perimeter shots. So we just took what the defense gave us,” Verdier said.

The Braves will face a tough Conference Carolinas matchup when they hit the road to take on Emmanuel. The men’s game will be at approximately 4 p.m. following the conclusion of the women’s game.