WENDELL - At times, it appeared the Smithfield-Selma men’s basketball team could stage a comeback against East Wake on the Warriors’ home court on Monday, but the Spartans could not deny East Wake’s explosive offense.

Freshman guard Quincey Jackson scored 17 points and secured 12 rebounds as the Warriors walloped the Spartans 78-55.

“Quincey played well,” East Wake coach Darren Stinson said. “I’m proud of all the guys, and we’re going to keep going.”

The win was the Warriors’ second in a row.

East Wake (5-10, 3-3 Greater Neuse River 4A) defeated Southeast Raleigh 56-50 on Jan. 6.

The Spartans (7-8, 2-4) held a slim lead after the first quarter, bolstered by a flurry of 3-point shots.

Fifteen of the Spartans’ 19 first-quarter points were scored in 3-point increments by David Lucas and Seth Turner.

Lucas, who scored 15 points for the Spartans, went out of the game with 5:40 left on the clock after hitting his head when he fell on a botched attempt to dunk the ball.

Smithfield-Selma coach James Robinson was disappointed over his Spartans’ effort, but complimented his East Wake opponents.

“I have to credit East Wake. They continued to switch up their defense until they found something we couldn’t deal with,” he said.

East Wake went man-to-man, and that was the Spartans’ undoing, according to Robinson.

“We usually handle man-to-man the best of all defenses, but we just didn’t execute tonight,” he said.

He reported Lucas was feeling better after suffering what he thought was a Grade II concussion.

The Warriors’ two back-to-back wins gives their coach and team confidence.

“This was a big win for us. It was the best basketball we have played in a long time,” Stinson said. “We only had 11 turnovers, and that was a big improvement. We are getting better, but we still have a long way to go.”

Alex Cowan led East Wake with 18 points while Jackson added his 17 and Shaquille Leach followed with 16.

Lucas led the Spartans with 15 points and Montrell Shepherd added 9.