Moberly defense, TRC turnovers the difference in Greyhounds' win

Just under three weeks ago, the Three Rivers Raiders men’s basketball team witnessed Makur Jongkuch break his leg at Moberly and had a chance to even the score against the No. 7 Greyhounds Saturday evening, hours after former head coach Gene Bess’ statute was unveiled outside of the Libla Family Sports Complex (see related story).

The chance to steal a big win offered itself for a moment, but briefly as the Greyhounds took control after halftime and pulled away for a 66-45 win.

Three Rivers, which was held to 31.9 percent shooting and committed 25 turnovers, was led by Mo Niang (16 points) and Hosana Kitenge, and Jordan Hamilton (seven points apiece).

“The 25 turnovers was probably the breaking point,” 3RC head coach Brian Bess said. “We couldn’t handle their press, their pressure. They are No. 7 in the nation for a reason, but we can compete if we can handle the ball better and get better shots.”

The first half was another offensive struggle for the Raiders as field goals were at a premium, but make no mistake, their salty defense kept the nationally ranked Greyhounds from getting too comfortable even after an early 10-1 lead.

After falling behind 19-9 however, the Raiders (10-13, 3-5) found a groove and chipped away to pull within two points – thanks to a scoring run by Niang - before Moberly created a bit of breathing room to lead 25-19 at halftime.

The second half started off similar to the first and the Greyhounds (21-3, 8-0) used an 18-4 runout over the first eight-plus minutes to take a sudden and emphatic 43-23 lead.

“We don’t seize the opportunities and keep getting stops to keep us in the game,” Brian Bess said. “I also think some of our turnovers led to the easy baskets out of it. We were grinding really well in the half-court (defense) and I thought we played our zone at the end of the first half really well.

“Our turnovers led to a lot of their offense. Our press offense has to get better. We got to make them pay some and take care of the ball.”

Moberly’s defense, one of the best in the country, proved it as they kept the pressure on and then had enough offense to slowly pull away. 

Tre’von Spillers led Moberly with a game-high 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Jaheim Tanksley 12 added 12 points and Tedrick Washington finished with 10.

The Raiders defeated St. Louis Community College 64-56 Monday (see below) and will head to Godfrey, Illinois Wednesday to face Lewis & Clark Wednesday.

REGION RACE

Despite Saturday’s loss, the Raiders are still in third place in the region standings, one-half game ahead of Missouri-State West Plains and a two-game lead on State Fair, who lost 69-57 at Mineral Area Saturday. Three Rivers has the head-to-head tiebreaker against West Plains since the Raiders have won the first two games of the three-game season series.

The Raiders’ home game against State Fair coming up Saturday will determine the winner of the season series between them, as Three Rivers and the Roadrunners have each won on the other’s home court.

Moberly has a two-game lead over Mineral Area in the region race and also has the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Cardinals after winning the first two games of their season series. Meanwhile, the Cardinals lead Three Rivers by three games in the race for second place and can lock up a top-two seed by beating West Plains at home Sunday.

MONDAY’S GAME

The Raiders got 15 poins and 11 rebounds from Mario Fleming to take a 64-56 win Monday at St. Louis Community College.

“Great bounce back,” Bess said. “Really good defensive effort. Had a really good first half. We were very up and down in the second half.”

Three Rivers (11-13) led 35-20 at halftime, then weathered an Archers rally in the second half.

Fleming, a St. Louis native, finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Caleb Young added 14, Lamont Jackson had 13 and Kitenge finished with 11.

“Mario had a really good game in front of his home crowd,” Bess said.