Richmond Senior forward Will Freeman finds his path to the basket blocked by a Hoke County defender during the Raiders’ 72-61 win over the Bucks Thursday night at Richmond. Freeman had eight points for the Raiders.
Richmond County Daily Journal
Balanced scoring helped the Richmond Senior men’s basketball team reach the 70-point mark for the second time this season Thursday night.
Leading scorer Brian Love, who connected on four of Richmond’s nine 3-pointer, led four Raiders in double figures with 19 points as Richmond won its second straight game. Richmond avenged an earlier season Southeastern Conference loss to Hoke with a 72-61 victory at Raider Gymnasium.
The win improved Richmond’s record to 13-5 overall (4-3 in the SEC).
Aside from Love reaching double digits, the Raiders also had Tedarrius Wiley score 15 points, including knocking down three triples, while Anthony Keane netted 10 points in the 11-point win. Quinton Quick, Will Freeman and Jide Reddick all chipped in with eight points apiece.
The Raiders were defeated 48-45 by Hoke back on Jan. 8, but found a way to put the ball in the hole more consistently than in the prior contest.
“I thought going into this game that our defense was going to be fine, but the big question was finding enough scorers,” Raiders coach David Laton said. “I felt like we’ve struggled a little offensively lately and in the first game against Hoke. But this game was a good sign and it’s really big when you can get that type of balance in your offense.”
Richmond got off to a slow start as Hoke jumped out to an 8-2 lead capped by Kentrice Melvin’s layup with 4:00 minutes remaining in the first. Melvin finished with a team-high 17 points. But the Raiders came back with a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead on Love’s floater with 1:40 seconds left in the opening quarter. However, Hoke scored the final four points to lead 13-9 at the end of the quarter.
In the second, the Raiders turned it up a notch defensively as Richmond held Hoke scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter. The Raiders forced Hoke into nine turnovers in the second and outscored the Bucks 20-9 to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room.
“In basketball, one big quarter can be the difference and for us it was the second,” Laton said. “I thought our zone press caused several turnovers, which helped ignite our offense.”
Richmond jumped out to a 37-26 lead in the third, but Hoke used a 6-0 run to cut the Raiders’ lead to five at 37-32 with 4:35 remaining in the quarter. But Richmond pushed the Bucks back with a 13-2 run climaxed by Freeman’s driving layup to extend to its biggest lead of 16 at 50-34 with .59 seconds left in the third.
The Raiders led 53-39 going into the fourth. The closest Hoke got in the final period was seven points.
Richmond returns to action at Lumberton in a SEC contest tonight at 7:30 p.m.
“I told the guys that we’re playing for tourament seeding and this is the start of the
stretch drive,” Laton said.
Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com
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