Luke Charles threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns and UNC Pembroke's defense turned away Tusculum College on six trips inside the 35-yard line in a 20-10 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.

Te'vell Williams caught 10 passes for 152 yards and a touchdown for the Braves (5-1), who stopped the Pioneers (2-4) six times on fourth down in the victory.

Tusculum quarterback Bo Cordell reached a career milestone in the loss, becoming the South Atlantic Conference's all-time leader in passing yards with 11,176. Cordell broke the previous record of 10,937 yards set by Todd Cunningham from Presbyterian from 1998 to 2001.

Cordell completed 39-of-64 passes for 284 yards for the Pioneers, but his longest completion of the day was just 17 yards against the Braves' defense. With his 11,176 career passing yards, Cordell now ranks 14th on the all-time NCAA Division II list.

Charles connected with Ben Decelle for a 60-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and hit Williams for a 3-yard score in the second quarter as the Braves led 17-10 at halftime. Connor Haskins' second field goal of the game with 6:26 left was the only scoring of the second half.

Michael Isbell led the Braves on the ground with 86 yards on 18 carries, while Brian Marshall paced Tusculum with a career-high 12 catches for 87 yards. Marshall piled up 205 all-purpose yards in the game, slightly above his season average of 187.6 all-purpose yards per game which ranks fifth in Division II.

Tusculum controlled the ball for 31:51 and finished with 355 yards of total offense, but was just 2-for-8 on fourth-down conversions against UNC Pembroke. The Braves rolled up 435 yards of offense as a team and had possession for 10:35 in the fourth quarter while protecting the lead.

UNC Pembroke received the opening kickoff and moved to its own 46, but was unable to convert a fourth-and-1 pass and Tusculum took over in Braves territory. The Pioneers moved to the 18-yard line before settling for a 35-yard field goal from Logan Cornelius to take a 3-0 lead just 3:26 into the game.

Cordell tied Cunningham's SAC yardage record on a 15-yard pass to Matt Levine on Tusculum's next possession, then broke it on a 4-yard screen pass to Chad Blakely with around 8:00 left in the first quarter.

The Pioneers were forced to punt, and the Braves needed just one play to take a 7-3 lead as Charles hit a wide-open Decelle down the left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown. On the extra-point attempt, a misplayed snap forced the Braves to throw a pass that fell incomplete, but the Pioneers were called for interference. With a second chance, Haskins drilled the extra point and UNC Pembroke had a 7-3 lead with exactly 7:00 left in the first quarter.

Tusculum moved 53 yards in 10 plays on its next possession, but turned the ball over at the UNC Pembroke 33 as a pass from Cordell caromed off a falling receiver into the arms of the Braves' DeVante Bush for an interception. The Braves turned the ball back to the Pioneers after five plays when a bad snap was recovered by Tusculum's Cashaud Lyons at the UNC Pembroke 41.

The Pioneers took advantage of the miscue, driving 41 yards in 10 plays and scoring on a 1-yard run by Marshall with 13:39 left in the first half to go back on top 10-7. The touchdown came one play after Cordell sneaked for two yards on fourth-and-inches to keep the Pioneer drive alive.

It took the Braves just under two minutes to regain the lead at 14-10, as a 7-play, 68-yard drive culminated with a 3-yard touchdown strike from Charles to Williams with 11:40 to play in the half. Williams caught three passes for 38 yards on the drive, including a 28-yard grab to the Tusculum 33.s

The Pioneers moved to the Braves 35 on their next possession, but Cordell was stopped on a fourth-down sneak to give the ball back to UNC Pembroke. The Braves drove 48 yards inside the Pioneer 20, but Tusculum's Irim Aiken came up with his first career interception at his own 1-yard line to stop the UNC Pembroke threat.

Unable to move out of the shadow of its own end zone, the Pioneers turned to punter Andy Rosetti who launched a 63-yard punt to force the Braves to start near midfield. Charles hit Williams with a 40-yard pass on their first play from scrimmage, setting up Haskins for a 22-yard field goal that gave the Braves a 17-10 lead with 3:59 left in the second quarter.

Marshall returned the ensuing kickoff 65 yards to the Braves' 29, but a four-yard loss on second down and a sack on third down left Tusculum facing fourth-and-14 from the UNC Pembroke 33. Cordell hit Marshall with a nine-yard pass, turning the ball back to the Braves with 1:55 left in the half.

UNC Pembroke took advantage of an offsides call on a punt to retain possession, and three passes to Williams brought the Braves to the Pioneer 34 with one second left in the half. Haskins was called upon to try a 51-yard field goal, but the kick was well short as time expired.

Tusculum took the second-half kickoff and drove all the way to the UNC Pembroke 17, but a sack forced the Pioneers into a fourth-and-10 situation and Cordell's pass fell incomplete. The Pioneers moved 67 yards on 10 plays on their next drive, aided by pass interference and face mask calls against the Braves, but a 29-yard field-goal attempt went wide right and UNC Pembroke retained its 17-10 lead with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

Following exchanges of punts, the Pioneers were able to drive from their 41 to the Braves 33 on their first possession of the fourth quarter. However, Cordell threw four straight incomplete passes and UNC Pembroke took over with 10:39 left.

The Braves tacked on insurance points on the drive, moving 55 yards in 12 plays before Haskins hit a 29-yard field goal with 6:26 left to take a 20-10 lead. Tusculum had two more possessions in the game, but were stopped on a fourth-and-1 play with 4:29 remaining and failed on four straight passes deep in its own territory in the final 90 seconds.

Justin Houston also finished with career highs for the Pioneers, making seven catches for 64 yards. Xzanvion Smith, who entered the game leading the SAC in receiving yards per game (139.0), was limited to six catches for 41 yards with a long reception of 12 yards.

Rosetti had a strong game on special teams for the Pioneers, averaging 48.7 yards on three punts with one kick inside the 20. The Braves finished with just 37 return yards in the game.

Dominic James led the Pioneers with a career-high 12 tackles in the game, while Brian Alexander and Darien Crank each had 10 stops. Kaytron Becton led all players with four pass breakups. For the Braves, L.J. Stroman had a team-high 12 tackles, Cadarreus Mason had 11 stops and Preston Perry made 10 tackles. Bush had two sacks and three quarterback hurries to go with his interception.

Tusculum will be back in action next Saturday with a SAC game at Lenoir-Rhyne, beginning at 2 p.m.