Nansemond River cruised to an easy victory Wednesday night in Fall Ball action at River, 86-41 over Wilson, while Lakeland dropped a hard-fought, last-minute 39-36 decision to Hickory.

In the first game of the evening, the Cavaliers and Hawks struggled equally through a turnover-filled first half.

Lakeland totaled four field goals in the opening 20 minutes, but was still down just 18-12 at the half.

The Lakeland offense, mostly through a couple of Mario Hunter jumpers, found some flow and cut the Hickory lead to 21-20 four minutes into the second half.

Hickory regained a 35-28 margin with just under five minutes to play, but the Lakeland defense kept the Hawks scoreless over the next four minutes.

In the meantime, a three-point play, and then a coast-to-coast lay-up by Jaleel Nelson cut the gap to 35-33 with 1:17 to go.

Teams traded turnovers before Hickory had the chance to put the game away from the free throw line.

A simultaneous personal foul and technical foul gave the Hawks four free throws and possession with 48 seconds left.

Out of those free chances, Hickory managed only one point, and on the next Cavalier possession, Darren Copeland hit Lakeland’s only three-pointer of the game, tying the score with 27 seconds remaining.

A Hickory bucket, defensive stop, and one more free throw made up the final difference.

Nelson was Lakeland’s leading scorer and rebounder with 10 of each.

River, playing against a Presidents’ team which had only five players on hand, jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the opening three minutes and was never threatened.

Nick Wright was too much for Wilson to stop, especially on the offensive boards; Wright scored six points in the early run, on his way to 22 for the game.

Wilson was able to match the Warriors’ fast pace for a while after the initial run, as the score was still 34-21 River before a couple Vaughn Wilson fast break lay ups touched off a 16-0 Warrior run to end the half.

The Warrior lead continued growing after the half, as all 10 River players got good playing time.

In addition to Wright, the other Warriors in double-figure scoring were Andre Jones with 17, Mark Brown with 14, and Wilson with 11.

andrew.giermak@suffolknewsherald.com