The Union Pines Viking boys fell 64-48 to the Terry Sanford Bulldogs in a nonconference basketball game Monday at Bob Ward Gym in Cameron.

Despite battling foul trouble throughout the first half the Vikes were still within striking distance at halftime of the season opener. At intermission Union Pines trailed 4-A Terry Sanford 29-18.

Four Viking players, including three starters had two personal fouls apiece as action began in the third quarter. Still late in the period Union Pines was able to mount a brief charge, cutting the deficit to 39-30 by employing a 1-3-1 half court trap on defense to force two straight turnovers.

Viking senior captain Matthew Maness went to the line with his team down by nine points at the 2:30 mark after making a steal. However he missed the front end of the one-and-one bonus as the Bulldogs closed the period on a five-point run to grab a 44-30 lead as play moved to the final quarter.

Free throws troubles by Union Pines early in the final quarter helped completely quell the momentum it had built. The Vikes missed the front end of two consecutive one-and-one attempts at the line early in the period. On the other end the visitors connected on four straight trips down the court to take a commanding 52-30 lead with 5:41 left to play in the tilt.

By the 1:46 mark of the quarter Terry Sanford’s lead swelled to 62-36, prompting Bulldog head coach Bill Boyette to clear his bench. From there Union Pines scored 12 of the final 14 points of the game to bring the score to its 64-48 final tally.

Union Pines head coach Nick Boney felt free throw shooting, team defense and turnovers were all areas of the contest that contributed to the final outcome.

“We made a run and had some good momentum but missed too many free throws at key times,” said Boney. “We have to work on our free throws more in practice and not just shooting them. We have to do more situational free throw work to simulate that pressure because we missed some key ones tonight.”

“We also need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and cut out the unforced turnovers. As a team we can’t afford to have many wasted possessions and we certainly cannot allow turnovers that result in run out buckets on the other end."

Overall Union Pines missed five front ends in one-and-one attempts at the line and converted nine of 17 attempts (52.9 percent) from the charity stripe. In addition the Vikings committed 18 turnovers.

“Defensively we did OK but not up to the standards I like,” said Boney. “We were OK in our man-to-man set guarding their guys straight up, but we didn’t help like we needed to consistently.

“While we lost this game our guys have heart. They kept right on fighting and I don’t think we have any quitters on this team. Terry Sanford is a good team but again we have to play better defense for the entire game, box out on the boards and make our free throws.

"That is what we will take away from this one as we move forward – I do like the way my guys competed though.”

Maness led the effort for Union Pines. The shooting guard had a game-high 17 points — connecting on four of six attempts from behind the arc — and also finished with four assists and two steals. Junior Darin Carlyle had a solid showing off the bench for the Vikings, taking two charges, scoring seven points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Terry Sanford (1-0) had six players score seven or more points in the tilt. Leading the way was freshman reserve forward Isaiah Stallings with 12 points and six boards. Senior swingman Collyn Strother also hit double digits in scoring with 11 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Darryl Bonner a senior point guard tallied eight points and five assists, while junior shooting guard Jahi Hughes had nine points and four assists.

Union Pines (0-1) took on the 1-A East Montgomery Eagles Tuesday in Biscoe in a nonconference ball game.

Box Score:

Terry Sanford 20 9 15 20 — 64

Union Pines 7 11 12 18 — 48

Terry Sanford: Stallings 6 0-0 12, Strother 5 1-2 11, Hughes 3 2-2 9, Bonner 3 2-5 8, C. Scott 4 0-0 8, Joseph Riddle 1 5-6 7, Chiagozie Udoh 2 0-0 4, Tyree Giles 2 0-3 2, Myles Davenport 0 1-2 1. Totals 26 11-20 64.

Union Pines: Maness 5 3-6 17, Carlyle 3 1-2 7; Crawford 2 0-0 4, Shakeem McRae 2 0-0 4, Luke Davis 2 0-0 4, Armani McCoy 1 2-2 4, Tyler Packer 1 0-0 3, Mike Quick 1 1-4 3, Jeff Thompson 0-2-2 2, Dionte Williams 0 0-1 0. Totals 17 9-17 48

Three-point goals: (TS) 1 (Hughes); (UP) 5 (Maness 4, Packer).