Upset misses mark: No. 7 Southeastern edges Raiders

By ALEX ABATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

BURLINGTON, Iowa -- Late execution eluded the Three Rivers Raiders Monday night against seventh-ranked Southeastern Iowa.

The Raiders missed a shot to tie the game with under 10 seconds remaining and after the Blackhawks missed one of two free throws, Three Rivers couldn't get a shot off in the remaining 5.4 seconds as they lost by three, 71-68.

"We're going to have to learn from this and get better," Three Rivers coach Gene Bess said. "We have to be better than this if we want to do well the rest of the season and then get to the National Tournament."

Marquise Carter led the Raiders with 15 points while Jeremy Marrs had 12 in the loss.

The game was tied at 68-68 but Brian McMikle drained a pullup jumper with 16 seconds remaining to give Southeastern Iowa the lead.

"Defensively we gave up too many easy shots down late," Bess said. "Two or three times, they just took it all the way to the basket and got layups."

Three Rivers elected not to call a timeout on the following possession and Carter drove into the lane but missed a shot to the right and the ball went out of bounds to the Blackhawks.

"We didn't get a very good shot when Marquise drove in and kind of threw one up," Bess said.

Southeastern's Steven Baker made one of two from the free-throw line which put Three Rivers down three with 5.4 left. Carter got the inbound pass and fired a pass ahead to Allan Spencer that was knocked away just before the final buzzer sounded.

"Five seconds is a long time for a lastsecond shot," Bess said. "We just got in a hurry, kind of lost our poise maybe when we let them make that (late) run."

The Raiders had a 66-62 lead with 2:46 left in the contest after Marrs got a shot to go off the glass after an offensive rebound.

McMikle got Southeastern within two on the next possession and the Blackhawks tied the game at 66-66 with 1:40 remaining with a shot from Norvell Arnold.

"I don't think (the game) came down to the last 30 seconds," Bess said. "We didn't change the way we were playing, they made a couple runs and got a couple breaks there and that was the game."

Three Rivers trailed 36-34 at the break and after Southeastern took a five-point edge in the early moments of the second half, the Raiders struck back. Marrs made a basket and after a Southeastern free throw, Nick Niemczyk hit two free throws and made a layup off a steal to tie the game at 40-40 with 16:08 left.

Later in the half, the Raiders opened up a 57-53 lead as Richard Walker was able to finish at the rim after an offensive rebound.

It was the third loss to a ranked opponent this season for the Raiders, who lost to second-ranked Southwestern Ill. by six to end the first semester. Monday's loss snapped a sixgame winning streak for the Raiders, who have won three road games to start Region XVI play.

Southeastern took a 4-0 to start the contest but Carter got the Raiders into the scoring column with a basket at the 17:15 mark. After two free throws from the Blackhawks gave them a 6-2 edge, the Raiders went on a 11-0 run to take a 13-6 lead.

Adam Carpenter hit a 3-pointer and Josh Terry followed on the next Raider possession with a post basket. After Carter and Niemczyk made baskets, Walker capped the run with a basket from the right block at the 13:06 mark of the first half.

Southeastern closed the first half on a 10-4 spurt to take the lead by a possession heading into the locker room.

Despite the loss, Bess felt his team can benefit from losing the close game.

"We can learn a lot if we take advantage of it," Bess said. "We will watch some video and see some things we did wrong. We are not a finished product by any means, we have a lot of work to do."

Notes: Three Rivers outrebounded the Blackhawks, 33-27. ... The Raiders had 18 turnovers in the game as compared to 13 for Southeastern. ... Southeastern had just six second-chance points as compared to 17 for Three Rivers. ... Both teams had five steals in the contest.