PEMBROKE, N.C. – Barton College rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to within four midway through the second half, but UNC Pembroke held off the comeback and posted a 117-102 home victory over the Bulldogs Saturday at Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court.
The win helped UNC Pembroke, ranked No. 8 in the latest D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll, avenge an 83-82 loss to BC last month and improve to 9-2 on the year. The setback ended a five-game win streak for Barton, now 7-4.
Trailing 55-38 at intermission, Barton freshman Isaiah Buck-Lowman hit his first five field goal attempts of the second half to help the Bulldogs climb within 10. Barton (7-4) continued to chip away, getting as close at 83-79 on two Miguel Brown free throws with 7:46 to go.
However, UNC Pembroke (9-2) received a key offensive rebound by Mike Smith on its next possession that led to a Nigel Grant layup, then added a steal and dunk by Akia Pruitt to start another run that put the game away.
The Braves had nearly as many offensive rebounds (21) as Barton did total boards (26), and UNCP more than doubled Barton overall on the glass, 53 to 26.
UNC Pembroke shot 53 percent from the field in the game (39 of 74), including 50 percent from 3-point range (12 of 24), and 84 percent from the free throw line (27 of 32).
After making just 39 percent in the opening half to fall far behind, Barton made 57 percent in the second half in producing its comeback.
Freshman Michael Boykin paced BC with 25 points, with senior R.J. Claypool adding 22. Buck-Lowman finished the game with 20 points, 17 of those coming in the second half. Freshman Jeff Gordon chipped in 16 points. Claypool and Gordon each collected a team-high six rebounds.
UNCP's Grant drained 10-of-12 attempts from the field while delivering a game-high 27 points and also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Barton will begin a six-game homestand of Conference Carolinas contests on Tuesday when it hosts North Greenville University in a 7:30 p.m. matchup at Wilson Gymnasium.
