Junior forward Marvin Jackson posted a double-double with game-high totals of 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the St. Andrews Presbyterian College men’s basketball team to a 82-77 non-conference victory over the University of North Carolina at Pembroke on Thursday evening’s Fan Appreciation ‘Knight’ in Harris Court.

St. Andrews extended its win streak to four games, improving to 5-3 on the year. SAPC has treated Knights fans to an impressive 5-1 record at home.

“UNCP really handed it to us when we played in their gym four weeks ago,” said SAPC head coach Richie Schueler. “We’ve been waiting for this game ever since, and I’m pleased that our team made the necessary adjustments to come out with a victory. I told our team that we’re going to have 10 more games this season when we’ll be playing a team for the second time, so this was a good test for the conference season.”

Jackson scored half of his career-high 30 points on a season-best five 3-pointers.

Jackson yanked down a game-high 10 rebounds to record his second double-double of the young season. Schueler added, “Marvin played like he does every day, with a lot of heart and determination. I love his effort and his best game of the season came at the right time.” Sophomore guard Kurt Fenderbosch scored 17 points for the Knights including five treys. Fenderbosch (5-of-6) and Jackson (5-of-7) accounted for all 10 of the Knights three-pointers as St. Andrews shot 47.6-percent from behind the arc.

After exchanging the first four baskets of the game, a thunderous dunk by Jackson gave the Knights an early lead (7-4) that they would not relinquish for the final 38 minutes. St. Andrews – looking to avenge an early season loss at UNC Pembroke – dominated play early and a three-pointer by Fenderbosch with 6:27 left in the first half provided the Knights with their largest lead of the game, 43-25. UNCP (4-6) fought back with a 16-2 run in the final six minutes of the opening period to cut SAPC’s lead to four (45-41) at halftime.

Braves’ sophomore Mike Robinson scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

“I really liked how our guys came ready to play from the start. But we need to improve our ability to handle adversity better, like at the end of the first half when they made a run. We’ll continue to grow as a team and learn to keep those big leads. Give the players credit though because they closed out the victory with resilience.”

St. Andrews kept a slim lead for most of the second half until a lay-up by junior Marcus Connor extended the Knights lead back to double digits, 72-61, with six minutes left in regulation. The Braves once again rallied to within one, 75-74, on the strength of a 13-3 run over the next three minute featured nine points by freshman Shahmel Brackett.

However, Brackett’s three-pointer at 2:51 to cap the rally was the last field goal made by UNC Pembroke as the Braves missed their final seven attempts from the floor. Connor – who currently leads NCAA Division II averaging 5.0 blocks per game – helped secure the Knights victory with his fifth block of the game in the final minute.

St. Andrews made 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to seal the five-point victory. Knights’ junior center Zack Garst scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half before fouling out. Garst was an impressive 7-of-9 from the field while adding five rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one steal.

St. Andrews only shot 38.9-percent in the first half but fired at 46.4-percent accuracy in the final 20 minutes to finish at 42.2-percent.

Knights’ sophomore Aaron Christian handed-out a team-high six assists. Christian and Connor both had three streals. Connor and sophomore Antonio Moffitt each tallied six points.

Brackett led a quartet of Braves in double figures with 17 points. The starting duo of senior Brandon Thomas and freshman George Blakeney had 12 and 10 points, respectively, in limited minutes due to foul trouble.

Junior Chris Hargrove led the Braves with nine rebounds while sophomore Marcus Heath had eight boards and a game-high seven assists. The Braves, who shot 57 percent from three-point distance in the first meeting in November, was held to just 16.7-percent (3-of-18) from long range. UNCP kept the score close with half of its 50 rebounds coming on the offensive end resulting in 19 second effort points.

St. Andrews concludes the 2009 portion of its schedule at NCAA Division I East Carolina University tonight at 7 p.m.