MOUNT OLIVE — The University of Mount Olive men's basketball team could not recover from a difficult opening half, falling 84–65 to UNC Pembroke on Wednesday night at Kornegay Arena.

UNC Pembroke set the tone early behind efficient shooting and strong transition play, taking a 42–25 lead into the halftime break despite Mount Olive creating solid scoring opportunities.

Mount Olive responded with a much stronger second half, outscoring UNC Pembroke 40–42 after the break and shooting 41.9 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes. The Trojans trimmed the deficit to as few as 12 points midway through the second half but were unable to string together enough stops to complete the comeback.

Jefferson McLamb led the Trojans with 15 points on 4-of-10 shooting, while Matt Kirby added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, with Christian Ananaba chipping in 10 points. Mount Olive shot 83.3 percent from the free-throw line and finished with 30 bench points, matching UNC Pembroke's production from reserves.

Defensively, the Trojans forced 15 turnovers and converted those opportunities into 18 fast-break points.

Mount Olive's next contest will be in a rescheduled game set for Friday against Southern Wesleyan on the road at 4 p.m. in Central, S.C.