Braves, North Georgia set for first-round NCAA matchup | Robesonian

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The College of North Carolina at Pembroke males’s basketball workforce would be the No. 2 seed within the NCAA Match Southeast Regional, starting Saturday in Augusta, Georgia, and their first-round opponent would be the No. 7 seed.

However don’t let that idiot you, Braves coach Drew Richards says, in a deep regional area — all eight of those groups are simply nearly as good as the opposite seven.

The Braves and North Georgia will face off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

“They’re nearly as good of a workforce as we’re going to see in the remainder of the area, with anyone else and another seed,” Richards mentioned. “When you get so far, seeds don’t actually matter; it’s extra about who’s locked in, who has the intestinal drive to proceed to push to desires to proceed to play, and it might be any a kind of groups within the regional.”

UNCP (26-3) and North Georgia (20-7) each earned at-large alternatives into the sphere; the Nighthawks will make their first NCAA Match look in program historical past, whereas the Braves will make their ninth, together with six straight in seasons the workforce accomplished.

The packages met 24 occasions as Peach Belt Convention foes from 2005-20, most not too long ago within the 2020 Peach Belt Match; UNCP leads the sequence 14-10 and has received 10 of the final 11. They haven’t confronted one another since UNCP joined Convention Carolinas in 2021.

North Georgia is led by standout Frank Champion, the Peach Belt Participant of the Yr averaging 20.7 factors, 10.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists per sport this season.

“We’ve referred to as him round right here ‘Child Giannis,’” Richards mentioned, referencing two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. “His means to push the break at 6-(foot)-7, 230 (kilos) and facilitate, he’s nearly as good a participant as we’ve confronted, not simply this 12 months however the previous couple of years.”

Guard A.J. White was named Peach Belt Freshman of the Yr after averaging 14.3 factors this season; Giancarlo Bastianoni is vital within the submit for the Nighthawks with 11.0 factors and 4.7 rebounds per sport.

“They’re extraordinarily proficient with (Champion and White), and the massive fellow inside Giancarlo, after which have a number of actually good items round them that makes them actually good. … It’ll be fairly the tall job,” Richards mentioned.

North Georgia scores 77.0 factors per sport, whereas permitting 70.5; the Nighthawks shoot 50.3% from the sphere, tenth greatest nationally in Division II.

“They’re actually good offensively … they usually’re actually good in transition protection,” Richards mentioned. “They don’t beat themselves; they’re a really well-coached workforce.”

UNCP enters Saturday’s sport having performed simply as soon as since Feb. 22, a semifinal loss within the Convention Carolinas Match final Saturday; Richards says he’s tried to maintain his workforce centered on the duty at hand in the course of the hand throughout two lengthy layoffs.

“You attempt to get higher in follow, that’s the massive factor,” Richards mentioned. “It’s loopy in that period of time this late within the season to not have many contests. However attempting to maintain the fellows locked in mentally and centered on the sport plan.”

The UNCP-North Georgia winner will advance to face the winner of No. 3 Lincoln Memorial and No. 6 Lander within the second spherical Sunday; the Railsplitters and Bearcats open the Southeast Regional at midday Saturday. Different first-round video games within the Southeast Regional embody No. 1 Augusta towards No. 8 Emmanuel at 5 p.m. Saturday and No. 4 USC Aiken towards No. 5 Catawba at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s a troublesome area this 12 months, and if we’re fortunate sufficient to get previous that first spherical we’ll have extra alternative to see what different nice workforce is up subsequent,” Richards mentioned.

Sports activities editor Chris Stiles could be reached at 910-816-1977 or by electronic mail at [email protected] You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter at @StilesOnSports.