PEMBROKE — The 21st-ranked University of North Carolina at Pembroke men’s basketball team will open up the home portion of its 2018-19 schedule on Tuesday when the Braves suit up to take on U.S. 74 rival Wingate at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

Tipoff for the Braves’ lone home nonconference game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Braves (3-1) suffered their first loss of the season with a 77-72 setback to Barton on Friday in the opening game of the 53rd Annual Pickle Classic. UNCP bounced back with a 105-58 win over host-Mount Olive on Saturday evening in Kornegay Arena.

Six players are maintaining double-figure scoring averages for the Braves, led by senior James Murray-Boyles who has registered 15.5 points and four rebounds through four outings this season. Sophomore Tyrell Kirk is turning in 10 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.5 steals an outing so far in 2018-19.

The Braves have shot better than 50 percent from the field through four games this season, including a 55.2 percent success rate in the win at Mount Olive on Saturday. That offensive output also includes a 26-for-64 (.406) clip from the perimeter.

The Bulldogs (2-2) snapped a two-game skid with a 90-68 victory over Fayetteville State on home on Saturday. Wingate limited the Broncos to just 22 percent shooting in the second half, and outscored the visitors, 45-24, in the second stanza.

Senior Marco Haskins is averaging a team-best 22.5 points and eight rebounds per game through four outings this season, while also shooting 47.1 percent from the field, including a 13-for-25 (.520) clip from the perimeter. Haskins has turned in 22 or more points in three contests already in 2018-19, but was held to 17 points in Saturday’s win over Fayetteville State.

Offensively, Wingate is averaging more than 89 points per game this season thanks to 43.7 percent shooting. The Bulldogs have attempted nearly 30 perimeter shots per game in 2018-19, and have connected on 41 percent of those attempts. The Bulldogs drained 19 3-pointers (38 attempts) in the season-opening victory over Belmont Abbey.

UNCP has captured 24 of the previous 47 contests against Wingate in a series that dates all the way back to the 1978-79 season when both sides competed as members of the Carolinas Conference. The home team has captured each of the last four matchups in the series.

Men’s cross country qualifies for nationals

NDIANAPOLIS — A phenomenal performance at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships proved to be even more fruitful for the UNC Pembroke men’s cross country team on Monday afternoon when the Braves received one of 10 at-large bids to the NCAA Division II National Championships next month.

It will be the first team appearance for the men’s squad since it registered a 15th place finish at the 1981 event in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The 2018 event will be held on December 1 at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Braves have already captured postseason hardware after edging out Augusta at the Peach Belt Conference Championships earlier this month on the way to claiming their second league crown in four years. PBC Freshman of the Year Joshua Chepkesir and PBC Runner of the Year Silus Kipkoech finished 1-2 at that event, while seniors Logan Ward and Matthew Martin both picked up all-league laurels as well.

Chepkesir out-paced the rest of the 151-man field at Saturday’s NCAA Southeast Region Championships in Gainesville, Ga., and led the Braves to a fourth place finish at the event.

Next month’s trip to Pittsburgh will mark the program’s third team appearance at the NCAA Championships. The Braves posted a second place finish at the 1980 event and combined for a 15th place finish in 1981. UNCP has also logged seven team appearances at the NAIA National Championships, including an NAIA National Championship in 1978.

UNCP Athletics UNCP senior James Murray-Boyles leads the Braves against Wingate on Tuesday.
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_BKM18-UNC-P-OSU-Original107-.jpgUNCP Athletics UNCP senior James Murray-Boyles leads the Braves against Wingate on Tuesday.

Staff report