BRIDGE CITY – Using a big third quarter, the Bridge City Cardinals were able to pull away from the Lumberton Raiders 54-44 in non-district action at Cardinal Gym Tuesday afternoon.

The Cardinals received a big basket from Justin Romero at the buzzer to end the first half after he received a nice dish from Dane Piper, who had snared a rebound as Bridge City took a 25-23 edge at intermission and they never trailed again.

Bridge City put together a 15-6 run in the third period as they got a couple inside buckets from Piper and a big three-point shot from Romero as they scooted out to a 40-29 lead at the end of the third.

A bucket by Romero gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the day at 48-35 with 3:16 left. The Raiders would get as close as 48-40 before the Cardinals sealed it.

Romero led the balanced Cardinal attack with 13 points. Phillip Jacobs chimed in with 10 points while Dane Piper had nine points and Ashton Grant eight.

Lumberton’s Stephen Yarbo filtered in a game-high 19 points for the Raiders and he connected on two three-pointers. Timothy Rhodes contributed nine points while Gavin Whitmire had six.

The Cardinals finished with a 36-32 rebounding advantage. Piper hauled in a team-high seven boardfs. Graydon Glover had six rebounds while Jacobs, Brandon Vela and Hunter Wiegreffe, who had six points, all had four rebounds apiece.

Mason Sikes paced the Raiders with seven rebounds. Rhodes hauled in six boards while Yarbo and Reese Kemp added five each.

The Cardinals held back theRaiders despite committing 24 turnovers. Lumberton finished with 18.

The Cardinals went 8-of-13 from the free-throw line while the Raiders made 7-of-12.

Bridge City will be back home next Tuesday when the Cardinals play host to East Chambers.