CANYON, Texas — The UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team dropped both games it played in over the weekend at the D2CCA Tip-Off Classic. The Braves lost Saturday to No. 25 Ferris State and dropped Sunday’s game against tournament host No. 3 West Texas A&M.
The Braves will be back in action on Friday when they host USC Aiken for their home opener. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
Sunday vs. West Texas A&M
UNCP shot 42.2% from the field, but No. 3 West Texas A&M shot 34 free throws and scored 16 points on turnovers to key a 77-70 victory over the Braves on Sunday evening inside the First United Bank Center.
The setback for the Braves (0-2) marks the first time since the 2006-07 season that the program has lost its first two contests. The outcome for the Buffs (2-0) was highlighted by a 32-point performance from Ahamed Mohammed.
UNC Pembroke took an early 8-3 lead following a jumper from Bradlee Haskell just four minutes into the action. West Texas A&M would eventually put together an 11-0 run to take a 26-13 lead capped off with a pair of free throws form Ahamed Mohammed just under the 10-minute mark. UNCP responded with a 13-5 surge highlighted by back-to-back triples from Josh Berenbaum to chip away at its deficit, 31-26 with 5:39 left in the half. The Braves shot a game-best 43.7% from field in the opening period and were able to cut their deficit back to 33-30 following a jumper from Bradlee Haskell, but the Buffs held a 41-34 lead as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
West Texas A&M opened the frame on a 16-7 run to take what would be its largest lead of the evening, 59-41, with a fastbreak layup from Issac Ayoubi at the 13-minute mark. The Braves responded on a 13-2 run to whittle their deficit back to 61-54 with a triple from Berenbaum with 6:36 remaining in regulation. Both teams traded possessions over the final minutes, but West Texas A&M made good on six of their final 10 attempts from the free throw line to hold onto to the victory.
Dallas Gardner scored a career-best 19 points on a 7-for-11 shooting night for UNCP. The sophomore nearly registered a double-double with nine rebounds in 33 minutes of work.
Berenbaum added 16 points highlighted by a 4-for-8 clip from the perimeter. The senior pulled down eight rebounds, dished out a pair of assists and had one steal as well.
Cobb collected a team-best 10 rebounds, while Haskell chipped in 12 points.
The Black & Gold posted a 49-38 advantage on the boards. UNCP picked up 36 points in the paint while West Texas A&M had 24 points inside the paint.
West Texas A&M made 34 trips to the free throw line and connected on 25 of those attempts, while UNC Pembroke was 10-for-17 from the free throw line.
Saturday vs. Ferris State
Ferris State shot 46.6% from the floor and picked up 47 points from its bench on the way to defeating the UNC Pembroke men’s basketball team 81-59 on Saturday evening.
The Braves scored 24 points in the paint and logged 13 points in transition during Saturday’s contest. The Bulldogs (1-1) had four players score in double-figures and picked up 17 points off of turnovers.
Ferris State shot 55.1% from the floor in the opening half and took a 19-9 lead after a pair of free throws from Mykel Bingham with 13 minutes on the clock. A jumper from Gardner and JaJuan Carr cut the UNCP deficit back to 24-16 with 9:20 remaining in the half. The Bulldogs put together a 16-1 run to push their lead out to 43-21 capped off with a triple from Donovan Brown-Boyd with just under four minutes on the clock. The Braves shot 26.6% from the floor and trailed 52-27 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
UNC Pembroke scored the first five points of the half with a layup from Cobb and an old-fashioned three-point play from Carr to cut the UNCP deficit back to 52-32 just three minutes into the half. Ethan Erickson canned a triple to give Ferris State its largest lead of the night, 67-39, with 8 1/2 minutes remaining in regulation. The Black & Gold put together an 11-8 surge to cut their deficit back to 73-52 with 4:35 on the clock, but FSU padded its lead, 75-52, with a jumper from Kenny Turner with just over three minutes remaining in the game.
Carr scored a team-best 16 points on a 5-for-12 shooting performance. The Burgaw native pulled down four defensive rebounds, had a pair of steals and one assist in 30 minutes of work.
Gardner flirted with a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. The sophomore registered a pair of steals, one block and one assist.
Newcomers Joe’l Pettiford and Ant Abraham came off of the bench to add eight points and seven points, respectively.
It was the fewest amount of points scored by the Braves since a 76-58 setback to North Georgia on March 11, 2023 in the NCAA Southeast Regional.
Ferris State posted a slight 41-39 advantage on the boards over UNC Pembroke.
