MORROW, Ga. – No. 25 Clayton State (23-6, 19-3 PBC) rallied late in the second half but could not overcome a pair of big buckets in the final minutes as No. 24 UNC Pembroke (26-5, 19-3 PBC) claimed the 2018 Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship in an NCAA Division II men's basketball game on Sunday, March 4.
 
Senior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) delivered another outstanding performance as he recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to lead the Lakers.
 
He was joined by redshirt-junior forward JaCarl Owens (Orlando, Fla.) with 10 points and seven boards and junior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) added five points and seven caroms. Redshirt-junior guard Aubrey McRae (Augusta, Ga.) and junior guard Justin Tuckson (Stafford, Va.) capped things off with 12 and nine points, respectively.
 
UNCP came out on fire as they took a 12-2 lead by the 15:33 mark before Clayton State answered with an 8-2 stretch that cut the deficit to 14-10 with just under seven minutes gone by. That would grow into an overall run of 22-7 as they came all the way back to take a 24-19 lead with 7:08 on the clock.
 
A 5-0 burst by the Braves then tied it up before Tuckson and sophomore guard Christoff Nairn (West Palm Beach, Fla.) nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lakers back the lead, 30-24, at the 5:14 mark. From there, UNC Pembroke used an 11-4 run to close the half and take a narrow 35-34 margin into the break.
 
Trailing 39-36 in the opening minutes of the second half, Clayton State would use consecutive baskets to take the lead at 40-39 with 16:58 on the clock. That would be the first of seven straight lead changes over a span of 5:57 and would end up with the Lakers ahead 48-45 by the 10:32 mark.
 
At that point the game would turn very quickly as UNCP put together a dominant 12-1 run in just over four minutes, taking a 57-49 lead in the process. With just 6:25 remaining, a three by McRae and six points from Owens fueled an 11-7 stretch that got Clayton State back in it at 64-60 with 2:55 to play.
 
They would then get a steal and head to the line following a foul but could not convert on the frontend of a one-and-one. That would prove to be critical as Akia Pruitt notched back-to-back buckets in the ensuing two minutes, the second on a fast break slam that made it 68-60 with 55 seconds on the clock. From there they would salt away the 70-60 victory to claim the 2018 PBC Tournament Championship.
 
Nigel Grant scored a game-high 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting and Pruitt added 17 points and seven boards to lead the Braves. Brandon Watts finished with nine points, two steals and a pair of blocks while David Strother added eight points, five boards and three assists. James Murray-Boyles rounded things out with eight points.
 
The Lakers will now await word on what seed they will be in the upcoming NCAA Division II Southeast Region Tournament. Those seeds will be revealed tonight at 10:30 p.m. on www.NCAA.com with quarterfinal games taking place on Saturday, March 10. Those games are likely to be in Harrogate, Tennessee at the home of Lincoln Memorial. Entering the weekend they were No. 3 in the Southeast Region.
 
NOTES
The 2018 Peach Belt Conference All-Tournament team consisted of Markus Terry (USC Aiken), Brandon Parker (Francis Marion), Akia Pruitt (UNC Pembroke), Dantez Bennamon (Clayton State), Nathan Powell (Clayton State) and Tournament MVP Nigel Grant (UNC Pembroke).