The Midway Raiders led by 5 going into the fourth quarter Tuesday night against the visiting Pender Patriots, but could not hang on for the victory. The Patriots went on a 14-2 run to begin the quarter and posted a 64-58 win.

The home team looked good in the opening period and and led 14-12. Midway made a living at the charity stripe in the very physical second period, connecting on 12 free throws. Jordan Thompson nailed a 38-footer as the horn sounded at the end of half to give the Raiders a 37-27 intermission lead.

Pender began to take the upper hand in the third period. They had cut the Raider lead to 49-44 as the final frame began. Just 23 seconds into the quarter, it was already a 1-point game at 49-48. The Patriots tied it up for the first time at the 5:51 mark.

Moments later Taylor Calcutt ended Midway’s scoring drought with a basket, but the lead was short lived. Pender tied it up with 4:49 to go and took the lead for good with two foul shots at the 4:33 mark. They returned to the stripe a minute later and made it a 4-point lead.

In fact it would be 58-51 before the Raiders would score again. Justin Thompson made it 58-53 with 1:40 left. Andre Sankey scored the last 5 points for Midway. He hit a shot with 20 seconds left to cut it to 6 and then nailed a 3 with 13 seconds remaining. Pender, however, left Spivey’s Corner with the win.

Justin Thompson led Raider scorers with 12 points. Sankey scored 11. Jordan Thompson added 9. Quincy Baggett posted 8. Calcutt dropped in 6. Josh Minnick scored 4. Heath Smith and Michael Hall contributed 3 each. Tyler Pope added 2.

“Just execution down the stretch right now is one of the things we’re working to get better at,” explained Midway head coach Leonard Henry. “There are some things that as a staff we can teach them in practice, and there are some things they have to learn on their own. We still control our own destiny. All we need right now is 1 win. 1 win will cure all this stuff that has taken place in the last 5 or 6 games.”

The Raiders fall to 4-7 in the Tri-County Conference and 9-11 overall. They will travel to James Kenan Friday night. Their final home game will be on Tuesday when they entertain Union.