Scots struggle to Richmond in first loss of season

LAURINBURG —The Fighting Scots boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday, falling to the Richmond Raiders 82-73, in arguably their worst performance of the year. If the Scots hope to get back on track against St. Pauls Wednesday, several factors will need to improve.

Transition Defense

“The difference in the game was our transition defense; we were not hustling back,” head coach Jarvis Cobb said after Tuesday’s defeat.

What hurt Scotland early was in the first quarter; after taking a 15-8 lead in the opening moments, Richmond went on a 12-4 run, turning Scotland’s missed shots into fast-break points, to take a 20-19 lead going into the second quarter. At the start of the third, with the score 46-37, the Raiders continued to capitalize on Scotland’s misses. Scotland narrowed the gap to 53-50; however, whenever the Scots went on a run, Richmond responded repeatedly.

“We beat ourselves,” Cobb said. “It would have been a different outcome if we had sprinted back on defense. But we didn’t play the way I know we’re capable of, and we lost a game we should’ve won.”

Rebounding

Far too often, the Raiders were given chances at second-chance points. Richmond consistently out-physicaled Scotland on the boards. A key issue was that Scotland’s small forward, sophomore Kam Price, led the team in rebounds with eight — but where were the frontcourt players: juniors Collin Hill and Javeer Pasley and senior Jesse Clifton? Hill and Pasley were tied for second in rebounds with seven, whereas Clifton only had five in Tuesday’s game.

Cobb believed this stat was a key contributor to the Scots’ defeat. “We gave up too many offensive possessions and rebounds, which broke our back and it was something we couldn’t recover from.”

Need for Another Ball Handler

It was evident that the Raiders’ main defensive focus was to trap guards sophomore Nazire’ Campbell and senior Zaymon Gibson and force others, not Campbell and Gibson, to orchestrate the offense. Scotland struggled; Campbell and Gibson combined for 12 turnovers, accounting for half of the team’s 24 turnovers. Given sophomore Maddox McNickle, junior Tomek McFadden and senior Lashawn Pittman are on the roster, one of them must step up if this offense aims to keep progressing. Who will it be?