The Scotland High School ninth-grade boys' basketball team faced Lumberton, the toughest opponent the Scots had seen through the first 13 games of their season, for the second time on Monday.

A 67-62 win back on Dec. 15 was by far Scotland's closest game of the season. Monday's rematch saw Scotland score the game's first 11 points and never look back in a 70-63 win to improve the Scots' record to 14-0 on the year.

Scotland is now two wins away from an undefeated season. They host Pinecrest in their final home game of the regular season on Thursday at 5 p.m. The team then closes out the regular season at Purnell Swett on Monday.

Similar to the team's first win over Lumberton, Scotland used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Pirates on Monday. Guards Isaiah Robinson and Casion Murphy scored 15 points apiece, as did the Scots' center, Seyyan Moody. Athletic swingman Dominique Green scored 10 points, and Donta Johnson and point guard Tony McRae had four points each.

Moody had two early inside baskets for Scotland. Robinson hit a pair of free throws to make the score 6-0, and his 3-pointer at the 5:08 mark put Scotland up 11-0. Moody ended up with eight points in the opening quarter and the Scots held a 19-7 lead through one.

Getting off to such a hot start was important for a Scotland team that has grown accustomed to blowing the competition off the court all season.

"That was real big," said SHS head coach Steve Hamilton. "My guys came out and said they wanted it more than them, and it showed on the floor.

"It was a much better showing. We came ready to play. We got down on ourselves in the last game with Lumberton."

Scotland never led by less than 10 points in the second quarter. A 10-2 run that included points by Moody, Robinson, Murphy and Green put SHS up 31-13, and a jumper by Johnson with four seconds left in the half had the Scots up 35-18 at the half.

Lumberton would cut into Scotland's lead in the second half, getting it to eight at 40-32 with 3:36 to play in the third quarter. The Scots tightened up their defense and ended the quarter on a 6-1 run to take a 50-37 lead into the final period.

Lumberton cut the lead to as little as seven points in the fourth quarter, but Scotland would answer each challenge that came from the Pirates.

With his team up 58-51, Murphy put back a missed shot and was fouled, converting on the 3-point play to make the score 61-51 with 3:36 to go. The lead never shrank below eight points after that.

Corey McRae and Alex Carmided led Lumberton with a dozen points apiece in Monday’s game. Terry Addison and Deonte Champra scored nine points each for the Pirates.

Lumberton goes to 9-2 on the season following the loss to Scotland in Laurinburg. The Pirates’ only two losses during the 2008-09 season have both come against the Fighting Scots.