Raiders lose late lead to MAC — again

A week ago on Saturday, the Three Rivers College men’s basketball team showed how far it has come when it snapped a nine-year home losing streak against Moberly.

This Saturday, the Raiders got reminded they still have a ways to go in their quest to return to junior college prominence.

For the second time this season, Three Rivers blew a 15-point second-half lead against Mineral Area College, falling 56-54 to the Cardinals at the Libla Family Sports Complex in a Region XVI contest.

It was the Raiders’ 10th loss in a row against Mineral Area. TRC’s last win over MAC came Feb. 16, 2022, also at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

The loss also dealt a blow to Three Rivers' chances of earning the top seed in next month's Region XVI Tournament. The Raiders (15-9, 5-3 Region XVI) now trail region leader Moberly by two games in the Region XVI standings with four games to go. TRC likely will need to win out and for either State Fair or Mineral Area to upset the Greyhounds to land the No. 1 seed in the region tourney.

Three Rivers nnygtook a 47-32 lead on Meechie White's 3-pointer right in front of the Raiders' bench with 8:34 to go, but Mineral Area (16-9, 4-4) started to chip away. Jordyn Richard's layup with 55 seconds left tied the score at 54, then Joseph Scott hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left to put MAC ahead 56-54. A last-second desperation heave by TRC was just wide of the rim.

Both teams struggled to shoot from the field Saturday night — averaging around 35% — but the Cardinals were 22-of-30 at the foul line (73%), while Three Rivers was just 17-for-29 (59%). Also, while Raider guards Matt Hamtpon and Ethan Johnson combined for 29 points and were 10-for-16 from the field, the rest of the team shot just 7-for-32 (22%) and scored 27 points.

Hampton led the Raiders with 20 points, while Johnson and Robert Alexander each added nine and Meechie White finished with seven. White also added eight rebounds and eight assists, while Antonio Williams had six rebounds and two steals. Hampton also added a pair of steals.

East Carter graduate Preston Turner led Mineral Area with 18 points, while Jordyn Richard had 12, DiAri Duncan had 10, Marcelous Phillips contributed seven and Joseph Scott finished with six. Turner also had seven rebounds and two steals, while Duncan added six rebounds and also blocked a pair of shots.

Three Rivers will be in action Monday at St. Louis and then will be back on the court Saturday afternoon against Jefferson. Tipoff at the Libla Family Sports Complex is set for 3 p.m.