On the same day Mark Stephenson of Kenly bought a Surf City beach house, he purchased a $20 scratch-off ticket and won a $100,000 prize.

“We just closed on our beach house yesterday and we were on our way back when we stopped at a Speedway and bought the ticket,” Stephenson said.

He bought his lucky $2,000,000 Riches ticket from the Speedway on South Jackson Street in Beulaville.

“The two tickets I was going to buy were both sold out so I bought that one instead,” he recalled.

Stephenson said his wife scratched the ticket while he drove down the road.

“She just started screaming,” Stephenson laughed. “I had to pull off at a Bojangles so we could collect our thoughts.”

He arrived at lottery headquarters Tuesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,256.

“We are just very blessed and very thankful,” he said.

Stephenson said he plans to use the money to help pay for the new beach house and do some renovations to it.

The $2,000,000 Riches game debuted in May with four $2 million top prizes and eight $100,000 prizes. Three $2 million prizes and four $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $14.3 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Johnston County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.