LITTLE CYPRESS – It was tough sledding for the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Bears after the first quarter Friday night against the Lumberton Raiders in District 22-4A action at the Hargrove Bear Cave.

After leading Lumberton 8-2 at the end of the first quarter, the Bears watched the Raiders outscore them 44-18 the rest of the way as Lumberton pulled away for a 46-26 victory.

The Raiders (13-11, 2-1) were outstanding on defense throughout the night as they held the Bears (9-14, 0-2) to just six field goals through the four quarters.

LC-M’s leading scorer on the season Braden Bridges, who was averaging close to 27 points a game going in, was limited to eight points and he fouled out with 6:06 remaining. Bridges led the Bears with his eight points, six of them coming in the first quarter.

The Bears led by six entering the second quarter, but the Raiders, sparked by guard Reid Kirk, went on a 16-4 spurt to lead 18-12 at intermission. Kirk scored seven of his game-high 12 points in the second quarter while Matthew Graves tallied five of his nine points in the period.

Both teams struggled in the third quarter but the Raiders held a 24-17 cushion heading to the fourth period.

Lumberton held the Bears to just three field goals in the second half and capped off the game with a 22-9 run in the final eight minutes as they went 14-of-20 from the free-throw line in the period.

The Raiders finished with a 30-27 rebounding edge. LC-M finished with 14 turnovers while Lumberton had 13.

The Raiders finished 21-of-34 from the free-throw line while the Bears made 13-of-21.

D.J. Williams and Jackson Smith had five points apiece for the Bears. Smith led LC-M with eight rebounds while Jesse Doucette hauled down six.

Brock McClure had seven points and a game-high 10 boards for the Raiders while Trevor Hattaway added seven rebounds.

The Bears will visit Bridge City Tuesday.