Montevallo, UNCP To Face In PBC Cross-Division Battle

PEMBROKE – The UNCP basketball squads will host Peach Belt Conference opponent Montevallo in a doubleheader on Friday in English E. Jones Center with the women's game starting at 5:30 p.m. and the men's game following the conclusion of the women's game.

UNCP (7-10, 3-6 PBC) ended a four-game losing streak last week as the Lady Braves claimed a pair of victories over visiting Augusta State, 66-58, on Thursday and then rolling over Armstrong Atlantic, 87-56, on Saturday on the road.  The Black and Gold used a +21 rebounding advantage and better than 42 percent field goal shooting in the victory over the Augusta State. Senior JaToya Kemp registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and finished 70 percent from the charity stripe. Briana Stanton collected a team-high 16 points while Domonique Washingtontallied 12 points on shooting 50 percent from the field while adding seven rebounds. 

The Lady Braves nearly led wire-to-wire in capturing the victory over Armstrong Atlantic on Saturday. Junior DeDe Cotten grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and registered a career and game-high 18 points including a 4-of-8 effort from the perimeter. Kemp and Stanton collected 16 and 12 points, respectively, while Washington led the team in assists with six along with grabbing six rebounds.

Kemp averages team bests with 15.2 points per game and 7.1 rebounds and also leads UNCP in blocks with 18. Washington averages 8.6 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, and holds a team-best and 24 steals. Stanton contributes 9.1 points per game while Illya Hunt leads the team in assists with 56. The Lady Braves shoot 40.1 percent from the field and 68.1 percent from the charity stripe.

Montevallo (7-8, 3-3 PBC) suffered its third-straight loss on Monday to conference opponent North Georgia and went 1-2 last week with a win over Armstrong Atlantic before losses to Clayton State and Georgia College. The Falcons had their second-poorest shooting performance of the season on the road against North Georgia in falling to the Saints by a 61-48 final. Senior Carrie Parrottcollected 10 points and nine rebounds while junior Shavonne Seymore added 10 points and six rebounds. Junior Taylor Welch averaged 10.3 points per game while hitting eight 3-pointers last week.

Parrott leads the Falcons with an average of 9.1 points per game while adding an average of 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field. Jessica Collins contributes 6.3 points, leads the team in rebounding with an average 5.3 and holds team-bests in steals (39) and blocks (64). The Falcons shoot 43.0 percent from the field and 63.6 percent from the charity stripe.

The Lady Braves and Falcons will meet for the second time in the all-time series. The Black and Gold hold the advantage with the only win of the series occurring in the 2009-10 season, a 63-59 triumph on Jan. 29 in Montevallo.

The UNCP men's basketball team (11-6, 4-5 PBC) will look to move their PBC record back to the .500 mark when they host the Montevallo Falcons (11-5, 4-3 PBC) in a cross-division matchup following completion of the women's game that starts at 5:30.

UNCP is currently riding a season-long three-game losing streak that started back on Jan. 16 with a 39-61 loss at Georgia Southwestern and was continued last week with losses to #3 Augusta State (54-72) and Armstrong Atlantic (65-67). 

During the week, sophomore Shahmel Brackett led the squad with a scoring average of 19.0 points and also recorded 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.0 assists per game. He shot 48.3 percent from the floor (14-of-29) and 47.1 percent from long range (8-of-17) while finishing as one of two players on the squad with an average of more than 10.0 points per game during the week. He currently leads the team with 14.4 points per game and has made a team-high 29 3-point baskets on the year.

The Braves are currently fifth in the country in rebounding margin (+9.4) and sport six players that average over 4.2 rebounds per game, led by sophomore George Blakeney who averages 6.5 boards per game. 

The Falcons enter the game having lost their last matchup, a 64-68 setback at North Georgia on Jan. 24, and have gone 2-2 in their last four games. Two of those contests have gone into overtime and the Falcons hold a 1-1 record in those two games.

UM was led by junior DeMarcus Catchings who averaged 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game during their 2-1 week last week and  Senior Ronald Severtsgaard had 12.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Junior Antoine Davis continues to lead the team on the season as he averages 12.0 points per game and he also leads the team in assists with 38.

Montevallo won the only matchup between the two schools in the all-time series, a 75-57 victory in Montevallo last season when the Falcons were ranked no. 24 in the country.