Robeson County New Shootout Champs!!!!!!

There’s a new champion in Robeson County basketball and the Lumberton Pirates unseated a perennial power to do so.

 “I super happy for our players and our coaching staff,” Lumberton coach Mackie Register said. “Our guys were resilient and it showed late in the game. I told Travis after he had a few early turnovers that we were going to need him to win the game. “We came out a little sluggish and had to stay the course,” Register said. 

Travis Suggs’ two free throws with eight seconds left Saturday night lifted Lumberton to a 64-63 victory in the championship game of the Robeson County Shootout at UNCP, the Pirates’ sixth overall and first since 2008. “I just did what I was taught to do,” Suggs said after giving the Pirates their first lead of the game. “I wanted to be in that situation.”

Trailing by a point, the top-seeded Golden Tornadoes raced down the floor and got to the line after three-year starter Jarrod Neal was fouled on a drive by Demetri Sheridan. Neal missed both shots from the charity stripe and Shemar Barfield’s long-distance jumper after an offensive rebound fell short as time expired causing a jubilant eruption and clearing from the Lumberton bench.

Published by: Brad Crawford Staff writer and Robesonian Staff