AMERICUS - The Georgia Southwestern men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to take a 51-50 lead with 7:18 remaining, only to have UNC Pembroke pull away late for a 68-60 win in the Storm Dome on Sunday afternoon.

After taking a 34-25 advantage into the halftime break, UNCP (13-8, 7-4 PBC) opened the lead to 11 points with a layup by Griffin Pittman seconds into the final stanza. GSW answered with a 15-3 run capped by a Milos Kleut jumper at the 14:03 mark, giving the Hurricanes a 40-39 lead. The next seven minutes were even and GSW held its final lead at 51-50.

Depite shooting shooting a season-low 33.3 percent from the field, the Hurricanes remained within striking distance of the Braves the entire game.

The Blue & Gold clamped down on the defensive end of the floor, forcing three more turnovers than UNCP which was parlayed into a 21-11 points off turnovers advantage.

Kleut posted his first double-double as a member of the Hurricanes with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. Evan Mobley and Marlon Rivera added 14 points apiece.

UNCP shot 47.2 percent for the game and was led by Shahmel Brackett's game-high 18 points. Nathan Priest added 12 points off the bench and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

The Hurricanes (11-7, 2-7 PBC) return to action on Wednesday when they host North Georgia at 7:30 p.m.