Three Rivers Jeremy Marrs goes for two as he is guarded by Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa's Demetrece Young in the first half Saturday at the Bess Activity Center. (Alex Abate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

The Raiders did just enough to get their seventh win in a row Saturday night at the Bess Activity Center.

Three Rivers made 14-of-19 free throws with less than 2 minutes remaining to hold off Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, 74-67.

"I thought it was a great team effort," Raiders coach Gene Bess said. "It was one of those team games and we beat a good team."

Ken Bingham led the Raiders with 21 points while Jeremy Marrs had 12 points. Josh Terry and Marquise Carter each added 10 in the win.

"What more can you say about Ken Bingham, (Marquise) Carter and Josh (Terry)?" Bess said. "Those guys took care of the ball."

The Mavericks closed the gap to 65-59 with 1:10 remaining after a 3-pointer from Geoff McIntosh, but four straight Raider free throws, two each by Terry and Carter, kept Northern just far enough away.

"They fouled us and we had to make the free throws," Terry said. "We missed some but we kept our heads on straight and tried to make some more."

The Mavericks got within eight points with under a minute remaining, but could get no closer than six before time expired due to Raider free throws.

Midway through the second half, Northern was down 49-38 but got to within four points in a hurry. McIntosh made two straight 3-pointers and after Bingham made just one of two at the line, Javier Nasarre made a post basket to put it at 50-46 with 9:10 left in the contest.

"It was a pretty close game," Terry said. "They come back, we'd try to get a couple buckets and they would come back. It was a fast-paced game."

Three Rivers started the second session with some hustle plays. Jamarcus Williams scored on an offensive rebound opportunity at the 19:30 mark and on the Raiders' next possession, Henry scored on another putback.

The Raiders went into the break with a 30-20 lead thanks to a run late in the half. With the game tied at 15-15, Bingham nailed a 3-pointer at the 8:00 mark to make it 18-15.

Marrs continued the scoring with a basket around the hoop and Bingham scored on a drive along the left baseline to make it 22-17. On the next Raiders possession, David Prater made a 3-pointer from the right wing and Terry hit a post basket to make it 27-17 just minutes before the break.

Northern started the game getting out to a 5-3 lead before the Raiders countered. Bingham nailed a 3-pointer at the 15:12 mark and Marrs added a basket at the 14:30 mark to make it 8-5. Both teams traded baskets before the Raiders separated just before the break.

"I have been working on my game a whole lot this week," Marrs said. "Coach has really been pushing me and been saying I can be a whole lot better offensively. Every day, I am getting better."

The Raiders shot 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the win.

"I thought that we hit some big 3s which really helped," Bess said. "The three is a very important part of the offensive game in basketball. We hit some big 3s when we needed to."

The Raiders felt like they were more mentally dialed in Saturday than the win over Lakeland on Friday night, Terry said.

"We kind of didn't do things the way we wanted (Friday) night so we came today and corrected it," Terry said. "We took care of business."

A key for the team over their win streak has been staying focused, Terry said.

"(The biggest thing has been) to stay humble and keep working hard," Terry said. "You can get beat on any night."

Notes: Northern Oklahoma made 11 2-pointers in the game as compared to nine 3-pointers. … The Raiders had 20 points off turnovers while the Mavericks had just seven.… The Raiders had seven blocks in the game, four of those by Marrs.