Raiders hold on to beat Jeffco

Saying the Three Rivers College men's basketball team has struggled in close games might be a bit of an understatement.

Entering Saturday's contest against Missouri Community College Athletic Conference win over Jefferson College Vikings, the Raiders had won just two of their nine games decided by less than 10 points this season — including back-to-back losses to Mineral Area and at St. Louis leading up to the game.

Which makes Three Rivers’ 83-77 win over the Vikings at the Libla Family Sports Complex a very sweet win for the Raiders.

“It's a mental thing,” Three Rivers coach Robert Kirby said. “When you drop a couple (of games) that's close, you start to doubt yourself in the final minutes. Our guys did a great of job of playing more confident than they've been in the past, and just understanding it's not necessarily what they're doing. It's what we're doing.”

Making Saturday's win even sweeter for the Raiders (16-10, 6-4 MCCAC) was that it also ensured the team's first winning season since 2021-22 and only its third in the last eight seasons.

That sweet win came despite a few negatives:

• The Raiders nearly blew an 18-point lead just one week after blowing a 15-point edge in a loss to Mineral Area.
• TRC struggled to put away a Jeffco squad that had lost 11 of its 16 road games this season before Saturday.
• With just over two minutes left in the game, Vikings guard Andre Aaron Jr. punched Three Rivers sophomore Meechie White after the two tied up a loose ball, resulting in Aaron and Raiders freshmen Kevin Peleyron and Allen Stoddard being ejected — Aaron for throwing the punch and the TRC players for leaving the bench afterwards.

The Raiders led 77-69 at that point, but Jeffco scored eight of the next 10 points and cut its deficit to just two points when Kade Harman drained a 3-pointer in front of his team's bench, making it a 79-77 game.

However, the Raiders responded, not allowing another point the rest of the way and getting a pair of free throws apiece from Cole Nichols and White to finally put the game on ice.

“Hats off to Jefferson County,” Kirby said. “They did a good job of really competing. I thought we didn't play as well as we were capable of playing, but we were able to pull out a victory down the stretch. We stepped up and made some good plays down the stretch.”

Despite the close finish, Three Rivers led wire-to-wire against the Vikings (10-15) on Saturday, including taking a 53-35 lead on Robert Alexander's basket with 16:51 left in the contest.

“The first part of the game, I don't think we were as tuned in as we needed to be, especially against a team that's in our conference and trying to win just like we are,” Kirby said. “We've got to come to the maturity level in order to grow and keep getting better.”

White paced the Raiders with 17 points, while Alexander and Matt Hampton each had 18, Nichols added nine and William Patterson finished with eight. Alexander had nine rebounds and two steals, while White had eight rebounds and four steals.

Harman and Shawn Villanea each led Jeffco with 17 points.

Three Rivers is slated to host Missouri State-West Plains in a Region XVI contest Wednesday, weather permitting.

“Every game is tough,” Kirby said. “We're trying to win all of them. We've got to be more prepared for this next ball game. West Plains is a very good team. They do a good job of preparing for you. We've got to do a great job of being focused from the start of the clock to the end of the clock.”