PEMBROKE — The University of North Carolina at Pembroke men’s and women’s basketball teams will wrap up a short two-game road trip on Wednesday evening when the Braves pack up their show and head to northeast Georgia to take on Augusta in key Peach Belt Conference battles inside Christenberry Fieldhouse. The women’s game is slated for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff, with the men’s game scheduled to follow at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Braves (10-2, 5-1 PBC) had their eight-game win streak snapped with a 75-68 setback at Georgia College on Saturday. The Bobcats shot nearly 43 percent from the field in the second half of that contest, and used a pair of late defensive stops, to key the victory.

UNCP is still tops among the 309 NCAA Division II schools in both total rebounds (46.1) and offensive rebounds (18.2) per game this season, while also ranking among the nation’s top 5 in blocks per game (second, 5.9), steals per game (fourth, 11.1) and rebounding margin (Fourth, +10.5). UNCP has recorded 21.4 second-chance points in 2018-19, while also averaging 22.8 points per game off turnovers this season as well.

Senior James Murray-Boyles is averaging a team-best 14.6 points per game this season on 43.7 percent field goal shooting, but is averaging 15.5 points per game and is shooting better than 48 percent from the field in true road games in 2018-19. Murray-Boyles has tacked up 17 or more points in four of his six road starts in 2018-19, including a season-best 22 points in the win at Mount Olive.

The Jaguars (9-3, 5-1 PBC) have now captured six of their last seven outings – including three-straight wins – following Saturday’s 65-62 victory at Columbus State. The Jaguars fueled 45 second-half point with a 15-of-30 success rate from the field, including a 6-of-10 clip from the perimeter.

Augusta leads the league in scoring defense (68 points per game allowed), and has limited its previous six PBC opponents to just 64.2 points an outing which also paces the 12-team conference. Offensively, the Jaguars are shooting 37.3 percent (second PBC) from the perimeter in 2018-19, and trail just the Braves in rebounding margin (+6.5). The Jags also average more assists per game (15) than turnovers (12.8) in 2018-19 as well.

Rafael Monteiro ranks 18th among PBC scoring leaders with 14.1 points per game on 60.9 percent field goal shooting, and fellow frontcourt mate Deane Williams puts up 12.1 points an outing while also pulling down a team-best 9.3 rebounds per game. Freshman Miguel Arnold (9.6 points/game) paces Augusta with a 39.7 percent clip from the perimeter, and has drained nearly 92 percent of his free throw attempts.

On the women’ side, the Lady Braves (4-8, 3-3 PBC) picked up their first road win of the 2018-19 campaign at Georgia College on Saturday, using junior Tee Graham’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer to eek out a 56-55 triumph. It was the second victory in the last three outings for UNCP who also picked up its first win in Milledgeville since the 2005-06 campaign.

UNCP has held its previous six Peach Belt Conference opponents to just 62.7 points per game (second PBC) a 34.5 percent field goal shooting (second PBC), while also recording 4.5 blocks per game as well. The Lady Braves have held all six league foes to sub-40 percent shooting as well, including a trio of defensive outings in which opponents have shot 35 percent or worse from the floor.

Tee Graham has averaged a team-best 9.7 points per game inside league competition this season, while also turning in four rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals an outing as well. Junior Aliyah Farmer has connected on nearly 47 percent of her field goal attempts against PBC foes, and is putting up 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds an outing in 20.7 minutes per game on the floor.

The Lady Jaguars (1-11, 0-6 PBC) have now dropped nine-straight games after Saturday’s 58-56 loss at Columbus State. Columbus State was +17 in the rebounding column in that contest, while also forcing 19 Augusta turnovers, including two in the last 30 seconds.

Augusta ranks 11th among the 12 PBC schools in scoring (56.3 points/game), and has shot just 33.7 percent from the field this season, including just 32.4 percent in six previous games against league foes. The Jaguars commit just 16.6 turnovers per game (sixth PBC), however, and have connected on 77 percent of their attempts from the free throw line inside PBC play.

Freshman Asia Harrison boasts a team-best 9.9 points per game scoring average, and has averaged nearly 13 field goal attempts per game in 2018-19. Senior Brianna Middleton has connected on better than 48 percent of her field goal attempts this season to fuel a 9.6 points per game scoring average, and leads the team with 8.5 rebounds an outing as well.

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Staff report