Central, SC - The Southern Wesleyan University Warriors were defeated by the UNC Pembroke Braves on Saturday. 

The Warriors were led in scoring and rebounding by Ceejay Jordan who had 11 and 5 along with 3 blocks. Bobby Taylor and RJ Bell each had a team-high 2 assists. As a team, the Warriors shot 24-58 (41.4%) from the field, 5-20 (25%) from three, and 14-23 (60.9%) from the free-throw line. 


Game Vitals:

Final: Southern Wesleyan University 67, UNC Pembroke 111

Records: Southern Wesleyan University (8-17, 4-13), UNC Pembroke (18-7, 15-2)


How It Happened: 

Che Smith, RJ Bell, Ceejay Jordan, Aaron Tims, and Jamarras McCray opened up on the floor for the Warriors in their matchup with the Braves. UNC Pembroke got off to a fast start, beginning the game on a 16-2 run which included a 4:29 stretch without a made field goal for the home team. After the lead grew to as big as 28 just inside the 8:00 mark, the Warriors did begin to find a little bit of an offensive rhythm. Starting with a 1-2 trip to the free-throw line from Tims, Southern Wesleyan scored on three straight possessions as Jordan and Tims had some success around the paint. But, SWU couldn't get consistent stops and UNCP ballooned their lead to 30 with 2:00 to play despite recent scores from Jordan and Bell. Eric Hackett scored on the team's penultimate possession of the first half to send the Warriors into the locker room trailing 54-23. 

Unfortunately for the Warriors, the second half was much of the same. Christopher Osobaye did have a stronger start to the period, scoring 6 points in the first 2:00 but the Braves had a fourth-chance score to increase their lead to 36 with 17:11 on the clock. Rebounding was a major area of success for UNC Pembroke in this matchup, dominating the category 57-21 as well as tallying 22 offensive rebounds to Southern Wesleyan's 3. The Brave lead climbed above 40 just over halfway through the half, but back-to-back scores from Brizendine and Smith cut that margin. SWU continued to have good stretches of offense, including a series where they scored on five of six possessions but they just couldn't consistently stop the UNCP offense, thus the 111-67 final score. 


What's Next: 

The Warriors have three games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season: February 19th vs Erskine, February 22nd at Chowan, and February 26th vs Shorter.