Phillip Moultrie was confident of two things after he and his Sandhills Community College teammates lost their basketball home opener Sunday.

First, attendence would go up if the team starts winning; and second, in order to win, the team needs to play better.

"Our defense is coming along," Moultrie said. "Playing better defense is taking away our legs on offense. We've got to get in better shape, learn to play both sides of the ball."

Moultrie and his Flyer teammates lost to Lenoir Community College, 91-68 Sunday at The O'Neal School. Sandhills restarted intercollegiate athletics this fall after more than 20 years.

Sunday the Flyers -- playing their fifth game in 10 days -- looked flat in the first half, shooting 24 percent from the field on 9 for 38 shooting.

The Lancers, playing their season opener, took advantage of SCC's slow start thanks to the play of Curtis Hines. Hines scored 11 of his 19 first-half points in an 18-0 scoring spree that helped the Lancers to a 39-16 lead with 3:01 remaining in the first half.

Hines, who finished with 26 points, hit three three-pointers during the run.

"We played well in spurts," said Lenior head coach Bobby Dawson. "We got out on our (fast) break and got some good looks (at the basket) from Curtis Hines."

Playing his entire roster much of the game, Sandhills head coach Aaron Denton, said he was pleased with his team's effort, but added there are definitely things the team will work on this week in practice.

"Offensively we got the ball where we wanted, and we got good shots, we just didn't make them," Denton said. "Defensively we have to continue to guard the ball better."

For the game the Flyers made 32 percent of their shot attempts (27 or 84) and connected on five of 23 three-pointers. Lenoir shot 48 percent from the floor, making 30 of 67 shots, including six of 12 from three-point range.

Sandhills (1-4) returns to action Saturday when they host Campbell Club at 2 p.m. at O'Neal.

In the second half, the Flyers seemed to find some offensive and defensive rhythm. Trailing 45-21 at half, the Flyers sliced the margin to 53-36 on a layup by Moultrie. Moultrie, a 6-foot-6 post player and Pinecrest High graduate, scored 10 points on five of 12 shooting and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

But the Lancers wrestled momentum and control of the game right back thanks to Tremaine Miller. Miller scored seven of his game-high 27 points in an 8-1 spurt that pushed the Lancer lead to 61-37 with 12 minutes left in the game.

Germann Bostic scored a game-high 15 points and a team-high four assists for the Flyers. Kelly Miller added 11 points and Anthony Chapman had 10 points and six rebounds.

Dawson said he was surprised by the play of Moultrie and Chapman, especially Chapman's ability to shoot from beyond the three-point arc.

"They've got some kids that hustle," Dawson said.

"They didn't give up. There is going to be some knocks this year but he (Denton) is going to have his guys ready to play. What you have to realize with a first-year program is that you are not building around two or three pieces that have been in the system for a year, you are having to find all the pieces. It will take some time."

Union Pines graduate Sam Wilborn scored three points -- all from the free-throw line -- and grabbed six rebounds for the Lancers.

LCC started the game quickly, scoring 12 of the game's first 14 points to take an early 10-point lead.

Sandhills rallied back, cutting the margin to 16-12 on a three-pointer by Chapman with 9:06 left in the half.

Contact Tom Embrey at 693-2477 or by e-mail at tembrey@thepilot.com.