FAYETTEVILLE- After playing together for a little over a week, the Scotland boys basketball team thought that they would have an advantage over a team like Jack Britt, that still had players in football.

Apparantly, no one told that to Devin Thompson.

The Bucs senior poured in a game-high 26 points as Jack Britt handed the Scots their first loss of the season, 61-49, Tuesday night.

"You got to give Jack Britt alot of credit, they did what they had to do to win the game," Scotland Coach Mike Ritchie said. "We made mistakes on the little things. Turning the ball over, not blocking out of defense and not getting through the screens."

Right out of the gates Thompson, who just signed to play ball with Fayetteville State, showed why the Broncos were interested in him. He scored 11 of the Bucs 20 points in the first quarter as Jack Britt (1-0) took a ten-point lead (20-10) after the first eight minutes of play.

The Scots got within nine (26-17) following a field goal by Lamont Browne but the Bucs went on a 5-2 run, punctuated by a three-point play from Raheem Jolliffe to put the lead back up to double digits, 31-19. Jack Britt took a 35-23 lead into halftime.

"We didn't have good spacing on offense," said Ritchie. "We didn't take care of the ball, missed easy shots when we had chances and at times, bad shot selection."

After the Bucs went up 36-23, Scotland put it into another gear. Going on a 12-5 run, the Scots got to within six (41-35) with less than a minute to play in the third on a lay-up from Browne.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, back-to-back baskets from Isaiah Robinson, cut the Bucs lead to just a basket (45-43) with 4:50 to play in the game.

"We weren't quite ready tonight and that blame goes on me," said Ritchie. "I thought we were, but it's hard to get ready with just five days to prepare. We gave ourselves hope in the third when we got it down to single digits but it was the fundamentals that hurt us and we weren't able to capitalize."

A pair of turnovers on the next two Scotland possessions led to a pair of fast break baskets for Thompson, sparking an 8-3 run and putting them back on top by double digits, 57-46, with 1:56 to play.

"It's always great to start out the season on a good note," Jack Britt Coach Mike Walker said. "I told the guys that one win or loss does not make a season. I thought we did some good things tonight and for stretches of the game, I thought Scotland did some good things and we were able to have the last push at the end."

Mo Covington led the way for the Scots (0-1) with 14 points and Dominique Clark added 10 before fouling out in the fourth. Robinson added eight.

Along with Thompson, only one other Buc registered in double figures and that was Garrett Rasmussen with 10 points. Jolliffe and Evan Heiman chipped in eight and seven, respectively.

Like their female counterparts, the Scotland boys return to action on Thursday when they host Pine Forest.