Thursday night’s blown 13-point lead against Southern Lee was still fresh in the minds of the Pinecrest boys when they traveled to Southern Durham for another basketball game 24 hours later.

“We know we lost a game we should have won,” the Patriots’ Faronte Drakeford said of the 55-52 home loss. “We just tried to bounce back as best we could and play with a lot of intensity.”

Drakeford scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the Patriots improved to 3-2 with a 57-50 victory over Southern Durham. It was the 6-foot-6 senior’s second double-double in as many nights. Phillip Wallace and Adam Cummings were also double figure scorers for the Pats with 10 points each.

Late in the second quarter of Thursday’s debacle, Drakeford turned a steal into a thunderous crowd energizing dunk that gave the Patriots a 30-17 lead. The Cavs (1-2) out-fought and outplayed them in the third period, moving ahead 41-39. The Patriots never regained the momentum.

On Friday night, the Patriots built a double-digit lead against the Spartans in the third quarter. The intensity at both ends of the court that got them there didn’t go away this time.

And the execution was better, too. Patriot coach Mike Apple thought the man-to-man defense played by the Spartans had something to do with that. Against the Southern Lee zone, 23 of the Patriots’ 46 shots were three-point attempts with only five of them finding the net.

“I thought we played a lot better offensively tonight,” the coach said. “We’re more comfortable playing against man-to-man right now.”

The Spartans closed the deficit to 49-44 on a three by Jamil Mann with 2:43 remaining in the game. The Patriots’ final eight points came from the foul line with Wallace, Cummings and Drakeford combining to make seven of their final eight tries.

The Patriots were missing senior guard Damion Pride (illness). Cummings, a sophomore, took some of Pride’s minutes.

His first three put the Patriots in front for good at 16-13. He connected again a few minutes later extending the lead to 22-14. Senior Juwan Wilson hounded the Spartan guards defensively all night and played a solid floor game.

When the Spartans (0-2) mounted a rally in the fourth period, senior Tyrek McLaughlin was sent to the foul line for the first time this season for the Patriots and went 3-for-4. Overall the Patriots have made a very respectable 67.3 percent of their free throw attempts in the first five games (70-for-104). Opponents have made 51.1 percent (48-for-94).

The Patriots are scheduled to entertain Jack Britt at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Pinecrest 11 17 10 19 57

Southern Durham 8 11 12 19 50

Pinecrest — Wallace 3 4-7 10, Drakeford 5 6-10 16, Smith 1 2-2 4, Jones 3 1-4 7, Wilson 1 0-2 2, McLaughlin 0 3-4 3, Painter 0 0-0 0, Cummings 3 2-2 10, Tolson 0 0-0 0, Williams 1 2-2 4, McPhaul 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 20-33 57. Southern — Collins 2 0-0 5, Story 2 0-0 4, Pounds 0 0-0 0, J. Saunders 2 1-2 5, Mann 2 4-5 9, Prince 6 0-0 14, Grant 1 0-1 2, Coe 2 1-2 5, Dores 1 1-2 3, Riley 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 8-14 50; Three-point goals: (PC) 3 (Cummings 2, Williams); (SD) 4 (Prince 2, Collins, Mann).

Jayvee Falls

The Pinecrest jayvee boys’ basketball team (3-2) dropped a 57-46 decision at Southern Durham Friday night.

After a close first quarter, the Patriots trailed 26-16 at halftime. The Spartans increased their lead to 44-31 early in the fourth quarter before the Pats rallied.

A basket by Chyshad McGriff got a 13-4 Patriot run started. Justin Ray made four free throws in a row and then a jumper to close the gap to 48-40. A drive for two by Montel King and then a steal for two more by Ray made it 48-44 with 43.9 seconds remaining. The home team wrapped up the game at the foul line.

Ray and Jerryl Liles each scored 14 points to lead the Patriots. Ray also had five assists, six rebounds and three steals. Liles had four steals. King finished with eight points. McGriff grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Contact Charlie Bergmann at cbergmann@nc.rr. com.