PEMBROKE — Earlier this season, first-year Braves coach Ben Miller pointed to the quality of competition in the Peach Belt Conference as part of the reason for his team’s lack of success. That may be true, but if recent performance against conference foes is any indication, his team could be close to turning the proverbial corner.

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke men’s basketball team finished its third clash against a ranked team in a one-week frame on Wednesday, this time suffering a close 74-69 setback to the 11th-ranked Augusta State Jaguars at the Jones Center.

After trailing by 12 at halftime, the Braves (5-15, 2-11 PBC) pulled to within three at 70-67 with a minute remaining in the contest but a turnover followed by four free throws from Fred Brathwaite sealed their fate.

“We showed some real positive bright spots tonight,” Miller said. “But we need to keep pushing through it and turn the corner to be a good team. We’re almost there.”

Heading into Wednesday’s slate of conference games, four Peach Belt teams were ranked nationally in the Top 25, a first in the league’s 19-year history.

UNCP’s backcourt of freshman Marcus Heath and senior Cortez Brown combined for 32 points and seven 3-pointers to help the Braves take a brief lead with 12 minutes to play in the second half.

The No. 11 Jaguars (16-4, 10-3 PBC) converted 24-of-32 foul shots including 12 from leading scorer Ben Madgen. Madgen scored a game-high 30 points and made 4-of-8 shots from beyond the arc.

Augusta State took its largest lead of the game at 42-30 in the final minute of the first half following a rare occurrence on offense. Madgen scored seven points on a single possession after a technical and flagrant foul was called on UNCP’s Demarcus Lyday. Madgen connected on all four shots from the charity stripe and sank a 3-pointer on the ensuing play to stretch a five-point game to 12.