PEMBROKE – The third-seeded and 24th-ranked UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team will make continue its postseason run on Saturday when it takes on sixth-seeded Francis Marion in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Southeast Regional on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. Tipoff is slated for noon inside LMU’s B. Frank “Tex” Turner Arena.
Fans unable to make the trip to northeastern Tennessee can follow the game for free via a live audio stream on the UNCP Sports Network with Trevor Williams handling the play-by-play duties. The matchup can also be followed via live video and statistics links provided by LMU.
NOTES
- The Braves (26-5) became just the third program (Lander, USC Aiken) in the 25-year history of the Peach Belt Conference to earn consecutive PBC Tournament championships with a 70-60 victory over top-seeded and 25th-ranked Clayton State on Sunday. UNCP is just the second program (USC Aiken, 2012-13 & 2013-14) to win both the regular season and tournament titles in consecutive years.
- Sunday’s win moved the 2017-18 Braves into a tie with the 1983-84 (26-7) and 2014-15 (26-6) squads for the second-most wins in school history. The 1990-91 club (27-5) registered a program-best 27 victories on the way to an appearance in the NAIA District Playoffs.
- UNCP has now captured 36 of its last 42 outings dating back to an 82-62 home victory over Flagler on Feb. 1, 2017. That span includes an 18-1 mark at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court, as well as a 32-3 clip against Peach Belt Conference opponents (26-3 inside league play). The Braves are also 16-5 away from Pembroke during that stretch (4-1 at neutral sites).
- Saturday’s contest with Francis Marion will mark UNCP’s fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight seasons. The Braves are 1-4 in their previous four trips to The Dance, with the lone win coming against Columbus State (89-82) in the quarterfinal round of the 2014-15 NCAA Southeast Regional.
- No. 3 seed Augusta 80, No. 6 seed UNCP 66 (2010-11 in Augusta, Ga.)
- No. 2 seed Lincoln Memorial 82, No. 7 seed UNCP 80 (2012-13 in Aiken, S.C.)
- No. 3 seed UNCP 89, No. 6 seed Columbus State 82 (2014-15 in Harrogate, Tenn.)
- No. 2 seed Montevallo 78, No. 3 seed UNCP 59 (2014-15 in Harrogate, Tenn.)
- No. 6 seed Limestone 100, No. 3 seed UNCP 85 (2016-17 in Charlotte)
- The Black & Gold is 1-1 all-time in games played in the state of Tennessee, with both contests coming in the 2014-15 NCAA Southeast Regional on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. The Braves picked up their first NCAA Tournament victory with the win over Columbus State, but dropped a semifinal matchup with Montevallo the following day.
- UNCP has shot better than 48 percent from the field and averaged 81.3 points per game in its previous 15 games away from home this season, while four players are averaging 10.8 points per game or better at road or neutral sites. The Braves are also registering 7.7 steals and 5.8 blocks in road or neutral site outings this season, while holding opponents to 73.9 points per game.
- With his nine-point outing against Clayton State, Brandon Watts passed Rosendo Bryden (1992-96) for third place on the program’s all-time scoring chart with 1,681 career points, and also moved himself into 10th place on the Peach Belt Conference’s all-time scoring chart as well. Nigel Grant, who is in the midst of his second season with the Black & Gold, needs 27 more points this season to become the 34th member of the program’s 1,000-Point Club.
UNCP VS. THE FIELD - The Braves are 44-34 all-time against Francis Marion in a hotly-contested series that dates all the way back to the 1971-72 campaign. Twenty-seven of the previous 76 matchups in the series have been decided by five or less points, including 17 that have come down to a single possession. The squads have just two previous neutral site meetings – an 83-78 UNCP victory over the Patriots in the 2005-06 PBC Tournament, as well as a 94-75 win for the Braves in last Saturday’s PBC Tournament semifinals.
- UNCP is 7-4 all-time against Queens in a series that dates back to the 1989-90 season. The Braves won the first six matchups in the series with the Royals, but have dropped four of the last five contests. Queens has won the last three meetings with the Braves, all of which were contested in Charlotte. The last win for the Black & Gold over the Royals was a 90-73 victory on Nov. 23, 1993.
- The Braves are 5-1 in six previous meetings with Lees-McRae, but have not faced the Bobcats since the 2008-09 campaign – Ben Miller‘s first season at the helm of the program. UNCP won the first three matchups in the series with the Bobcats, but dropped a 76-72 decision on Nov. 24, 2006, at the Pfeiffer Invitational in Misenheimer. The last three meetings between the clubs have been decided by six points or less.
- UNCP has dropped both previous matchups with Lincoln Memorial – a 64-52 home loss to the Railsplitters on Dec. 29, 2006, at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court, as well as a 82-80 nailbiter in the quarterfinal round of the 2012-13 NCAA Southeast Regional. LMU never led by more than two points in that contest which featured 10 tie scores and nine lead changes, while Shahmel Brackett’s 3-pointer at the buzzer that bounced off the front of the allowed LMU to escape.
- King registered a 79-66 victory over the Braves on Nov. 25, 2006, at the Pfeiffer Invitational in Misenheimer in the only previous matchup between the two squads. UNCP was coming off of a loss to Lees-McRae on the previous day at the round-robin tournament.
- The Braves are just 8-22 against Clayton State in a series that dates all the way back to the 1979-80 campaign, but UNCP has won five of the last seven matchups. UNCP’s PBC Tournament Championship victory was just its second road win in 13 meetings against the Lakers in Morrow, Ga., and its first road win in the series since Jan. 19, 2013. The clubs have two previous matchups on a neutral court – a 90-56 CSU win in the 2004 PBC Tournament in Augusta, Ga., as well as a 53-50 victory for the Lakers at the 2008 PBC Tournament in Aiken, S.C.
- Carson-Newman toughed out a 96-90 win over the Braves on Dec. 22, 2001 at the Armstrong Atlantic State Invitational in the only previous matchup between the two teams.