PEMBBROKE — After a hiccup against Lumberton, the Fighting Scots rebounded on Wednesday to trounce Purnell Swett — on their Senior Night — by 18 points.
Scotland went on a 14-0 run to start the first quarter, with three-pointers from seniors Niem Ratliffe and Brenton Thomas and baskets by Bruce Wall, Justin McRae and Isaiah Bostick.
By the end of the first quarter, the Fighting Scots had a sizable 16-5 lead. Purnell Swett managed to outscore the Scots in the second quarter, 10-9. Despite the surge by the Rams, the Scots maintained a 10-point lead going in the locker room, 25-15.
The Scots kept their foot on the gas in the second half, opening the third quarter with a steal and back-to-back threes from senior Janoah McRae, who paced the Scots with 15 points. A dunk by Bostick gave the Scots a 33-15 advantage.
Ratliffe scored a basket before Purnell Swett managed to finally put the ball in the net. The Scots wrapped the third quarter with six points by sophomore Garrett McRae and a basket by Thomas to extend their lead to 17 points, 43-26.
The Purnell Swett gym fell silent as the Rams couldn’t get anything going on offense and the Scots continued to get the three-pointers fly pouring on 19 fourth quarter points to come away with the 62-44 victory.
With the win, the Scots improve to 14-7 overall and 8-5 in Sandhills Athletic Conference play while Purnell Swett falls to 6-14 overall and 2-11 in conference play.
The Scots close out their regular season on the road tonight against Richmond (7-16, 2-11) in Rockingham. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
If Scotland beats Richmond on Friday and Pinecrest loses to Hoke the Scots will move back into second place in the SAC-8 standings ahead of the conference tournament seeding.
Hoke sits in first place at 13-0 and have clinched the SAC-8 regular season championship, currently Pinecrest is in second at 9-4 and the Scots are in third at 8-5. If the Patriots lose to Hoke the Scots will move into second place because of their two victories over Pinecrest this season.
Amber Hatten-Staley can be reached at 910-506-3170 or [email protected].