PEMBROKE, N.C. – Flagler College suffered yet another heart-breaking loss at the University of North Carolina Pembroke, this time 94-92, in a Peach Belt Conference East Division men's basketball game Wednesday night at the English E. Jones Center.
UNC Pembroke extended its winning streak to four games and improved to 15-11 overall and 9-8 in the Peach Belt. Flagler fell to 8-18 overall and 3-14 in conference play.
Flagler suffered a triple-overtime loss at UNC Pembroke in 2011andlost 65-64 last year at UNCP. Nine of the 14 games played in the series since 2010 have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
The Saints held a 90-86 lead after
Vaughn McCall made a 3-pointer with 1:14 left to go in the game. However,
Ben Bobbitt, after a turnover, fouled Alex Bradley when he was taking a 3-point shot with 38 seconds left. Bradley sank all three free throws to get the Braves to within one point, 90-89.
Brandon Watts then stole the ball from
Nick Grier with 34 seconds left and made a layup to give UNCP the lead, 91-90. A turnover by McCall with 26 seconds left forced Flagler to foul and Bradley stepped to the line and made two more free throws to widen the gap to 93-90.
Matt Clark made a layup with 13 seconds left to cut the deficit to one point. On the in-bounds pass,
Jeffercy Jean fouled Bradley. This time, Bradley missed the first shot, but made the second. McCall took a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the ball would not find the bottom of the net and the Braves escaped with a 94-92 win.
Watts scored 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and tallied four steals for UNCP. Bradley recorded 25 points, tallied five assists and registered three steals. Jihad Wright notched a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Brandon Winford chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Braves out-scored the Saints 44-28 in the paint and held a 44-36 edge in rebounds. UNCP grabbed 22 offensive rebounds which led to 24 second chance points.
Clark led the Saints with 21 points as he made five 3-pointers and dished out five assists. McCall tallied 19 points while
Keith Gray just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Grier added 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Saints made a season-high 15 triples.
Flagler will remain on the road as it heads to Montevallo, Alabama to take on the University of Montevallo on Saturday (Feb. 20) at 3:30 p.m. Central time.
