The Riverside-Durham Pirates and the Richmond Raiders squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but sadly the Riverside-Durham Pirates had to settle for second. They were outmatched by the Raiders on the road and fell 94-66. While losing is never fun, Riverside-Durham can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 109th, while Richmond is ranked 25th).
When it comes to explaining why Riverside-Durham lost, one person who can't be blamed is Corey Hairston Jr.. Despite the final result, he scored 25 points along with five rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Mekhi Sneed, who scored 12 points along with five rebounds and three steals.
Paul McNeil Jr. continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Richmond, almost dropping a triple-double on 35 points, nine rebounds, and 11 assists. McNeil Jr. has been hot recently, having posted 19 or more points the last ten times he's played. JV Drake was another key contributor, scoring 27 points along with two steals.
Riverside-Durham dropped their record down to 18-10 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for Richmond, the victory was the 16th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 23-5.
Riverside-Durham does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Richmond, they will play host again and welcome Cardinal Gibbons, where tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Richmond's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last 17 games.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
