When their two big men went to the bench with foul trouble on Friday night, the rest of the Vicksburg Gators pulled together to pick up the slack

Vicksburg led by only five points heading into the fourth quarter, but used a 16-0 run to turn its game with Lanier into a 75-54 blowout.

Raheam Moore scored 13 points and Kirk Parker had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Vicksburg (11-5, 1-1 Division 4-5A). The Gators, however, did most of their damage down the stretch while the two big men were on the bench with foul trouble.

Guards Joe Thomas and Kardell English picked up the scoring slack with 14 and 11 points, respectively, while the subs put Lanier (2-16, 0-3) on lockdown.

“It was a great defensive effort from the bench,” Vicksburg interim head coach Kelvin Carter said. Carter is leading the team while head coach Dellie C. Robinson is in the hospital with an illness. “We came out on fire but cooled off midway through the second. And then we got lax after halftime and they made a big run. Overall, our guys responded to the run. After a full timeout, we turned up the heat to get a victory and chanted ‘1-2-3 Coach Rob.’”

Earl Smith led Lanier with 23 points.

Vicksburg won its second straight game, and will try to keep the momentum going when it hosts Germantown Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in the Red Carpet Classic.

In the girls’ game Friday night, Lanier beat Vicksburg 58-32.