YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. | The University of North Carolina at Pembroke rallied from a 14-point deficit to thwart an upset bid by Young Harris College as the Braves held off the Mountain Lions 81-78 in a Peach Belt Conference men's basketball game Saturday (Feb. 16) afternoon at the YHC Basketball Arena.

The No. 21-ranked Braves improved to 18-5 overall and to 13-4 in the league, while the Mountain Lions fell to 11-13 and 9-9. Young Harris will host No. 25 Francis Marion University in a 7:30 p.m. league contest Monday (Feb. 18).

Young Harris, which led in the game for nearly 26 minutes, used a 17-4 run midway through the second half to open up its largest lead - 14-points (68-54) - after a James Laput layup with 9:52 left. During the run, Young Harris hit back-to-back-to-back three pointers (two from Paul Miller and another from Seth McCoy) to ignite the rally.

UNC Pembroke battled back and took its first lead of the second half at 74-73 on a Cam Hamilton jumper with 2:33 to play. The Mountain Lions retook the lead at 76-74 after Brian Harper sank a three-pointer on its next possession. The teams traded the lead back and forth until David Strother sank two free throws with 53.5 seconds left to give the Braves a 79-78 lead.  Strother hit two more free throws to expand the lead to 81-78 with 14 seconds left. Young Harris had one last opportunity to send the game into overtime, but turned the ball over on its final possession.

The Braves hit 22 of their 24 free throw attempts (91.7 percent), while the Mountain Lions, who hit 71.9 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe during the season, shot an uncharacteristic 30.0 percent (6-of-20).

Strother and Hamilton led the Braves with 20 points each, while Akia Pruitt had a double double with 15 rebounds and 13 points. James Murray-Boyles added 10 points.

Harper led Young Harris with a double double as he had 18 points to go with his 12 assists. Ryle Owens added 13 points, while Justin Jones contributed 12. Owens and Nicksen Blanc pulled down seven rebounds.