Men’s basketball

beats Mount Olive

to win Pickle Classic

MOUNT OLIVE — All-American Quamain Rose scored 16 of his team-high 22 points in the second half to lead the 13th-ranked UNC-Pembroke men’s basketball team to a 76-69 win over sixth-ranked Mount Olive on Saturday in the 50th-annual Pickle Classic.

It’s the fourth-straight win for the Braves (4-1), who improved to 16-16 all-time against the Trojans.

Rose complemented his offensive output with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals on the way to Pickle Classic Most Valuable Player honors. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Brandon Winford, who tallied 12 points and six rebounds as well as Brandon Watts who finished with seven points, nine rebounds and a trio of assists.

All-American Dontrell Brite poured in a game-best 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting for the Trojans. He was the only Mount Olive player to score in double digits.

UNCP took a nine-point lead at 42-33, just less than three minutes into the second half, but Mount Olive stormed back to get within a point, 45-44, after a layup by Brite 2-1/2 minutes later. Rose gave the Braves a 13-point lead, 70-57, with a 3-pointer with 4:46 remaining, but the Trojans scored the game’s next eight points to make things interesting. The hosts would miss their final four field goal attempts, however, and UNCP got clutch free throws from Jihad Wright and Alex Bradley to win going away.

The Trojans scored eight-straight points to stake claim to a 16-7 advantage midway through the first period, but the Braves scored 12 of the next 15 points and tied the score up at 19 apiece on an old-fashioned 3-point play by Carson Mounce with seven minutes left before intermission. The hosts took a 30-25 lead on an old-fashioned 3-point play from Brite at the 3:24 mark, but the Braves closed out the half on an 11-1 run to log a 36-31 advantage into the locker rooms.

The Braves will be back in action again on Wednesday when they open the home portion of their 2015-16 campaign against Fayetteville State (2-2). Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

Monley, Stevens lead

women’s hoops past Coker

PEMBROKE — With nine members of the UNC-Pembroke women’s basketball team putting points on the board including Jonissa Monley with 14 for the Black and Gold, the Braves dominated Coker for a 63-51 victory on Saturday afternoon in regional action on Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.

The victory kept UNCP (2-0) unbeaten through two games for the first time since the 2010-11 season and snapped a three-game skid against the Cobras (1-4) who fell in their third-consecutive contest.

Monley proved paramount for the Braves as she opened up the first half with eight-straight points and finished her 29 minutes with six rebounds and 7-for-12 shooting from the field. Eboné Stevens drained 12 points on four 3-pointers, while Chandrica Fuller added nine points and led the team with three assists. Senior Mary Robinson picked up a team-high in both steals (4) and rebounds (8), while LaShonda Prichard had two blocks in the contest.

UNCP forced 27 Coker turnovers and used those mistakes to notch 19 points. The Braves gathered 29 points off the bench compared to just seven from the Cobras, and put up 30 points in the paint. UNCP connected on 19-of-23 shooting from the foul line and shot 31.7 percent from the field, while Coker was just 3-for-21 from the arc.

UNCP led by 21 points with 7:38 remaining in the game, while Coker held the 3-2 lead in the first minute of the contest. Jazz Green logged the game’s only double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Cobras out-rebounded UNCP, 47-30, while Kiara Shoats added 13 points.

UNCP will head out to battle Livingstone (1-0) on Tuesday in the opening road contest of the season. Tipoff inside the New Trent Gym is slated for 6 p.m.

Rose
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Rose_Quamain.jpgRose

Staff report