'Never any quit' in Raiders despite adversity-plagued season

When Three Rivers College men’s basketball coach Brian Bess was asked about the amount of adversity the Raiders had battled this season, his response spoke volumes — figuratively and literally.

“I’ve got a notebook full of that,” Bess said.

Adversity arguably was a defining theme for the Raiders this season. A slew of injuries, a midseason bus crash and a brutal schedule all played roles in turning a promising season into one that ended with a 14-17 record.

“We’ve had our share of stuff,” Bess said.

First of all, Three Rivers had five players — including three who started at some point this season — go down with season-ending injuries.

K.D. Curry was injured in an auto accident early in September and missed the season, while transfer Nate Spivey — who was a starter at defending Region VII champion Roane State Community College in East Tennessee the previous season — had toe surgery later that same month and never saw the court this season.

But wait — there’s more.

B.J. Francis played just six games before ligament damage to his finger ended his season in mid-November. Makur Jongkuch, who stepped into the starting lineup in December, saw his season end with a compound fracture of his femur at Moberly on Jan. 18.

Last but not least, freshman Jordan Hamilton played just three games after scoring 12 points against Lewis & Clark on Jan. 7 and ended up missing the team’s last six games.

And that’s not even counting standout post player Hosana Kitenge missing time in December with a broken nose.

“We’ve always had to deal with injuries,” Bess said. “And it’s always been a deal where it’s next man up. It’s just that it was worse this year. It was probably the worst. It just really thinned out our depth.”

By the time the Raiders’ season ended last Friday in the region semifinals against Mineral Area, the roster was down to nine healthy players and the starters were playing more than 32 minutes per contest on average.

All of that was sandwiched around the now-infamous bus crash.

The Raiders’ team bus was T-boned on Jan. 5, by a tractor-trailer truck in Williamson County, Illinois, after the team’s game at John A. Logan.

“We finished the game, we stopped by Dominos to pick up pizza and were coming back through Marion,” Bess told the DAR the next day. “We had the green light and the 18-wheeler had the green light — but it must have been shorter — and was making a left turn. It must have turned red when it was slowly turning, but I am not sure. We went rolling through there at 30 miles per hour because we had the green. It just hammered us.”

Last but not least, the Raiders arguably played one of the toughest schedules in the entire country — two games against No. 2 John. A. Logan, three against No. 4 Moberly Area and one against No. 5 Indian Hills, who was ranked No. 1 earlier in the season.

Other elite opponents included No. 24 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M — who handed Indian Hills one of its four losses this season and can earn an automatic national tournament bid with a win this weekend — plus Region XI champion Southeastern (Iowa), Mineral Area and Northeast Mississippi, all of which were ranked earlier in the season.

In addition, the Raiders also played — and beat — Arkansas State Mid-South, which won its region and is a win away from qualifying for the NJCAA Division II national tournament.

However, the clouds surrounding the Raiders’ season did not come without a few silver linings.

First, the team showed no surrender in the face of seemingly never-ending adversity. Despite falling to 6-10 after the loss at John A. Logan on Jan. 5, Three Rivers was able to get its record almost to the break-even point by the end of February — indeed, the team traveled to Moberly Feb. 25 with a chance to end the regular season right at .500. Additionally, TRC nearly won at Mineral Area on Feb. 15 before losing 73-70 — a remarkable turnaround from the team’s game there in December, which the host Cardinals won 75-51.

“That would be what they would call the Raider Way,” Bess said. “There is no quitting — and you’ve got to know every time that you play the Raiders, they’re going to fight and they’re going to play. It’s going to be a battle — and I love that about this team.

“I told them after our last game was that that was what I appreciated out of them more than anything is that there was never any quit in the Raiders.”

Also, Three Rivers had several players who stepped up and had great seasons. Kitenge and sharpshooting sophomore Mo Niang both earned first-team all-region honors, while Lamont Jackson was named to the second team.

“Hosana was a big man that was very skilled,” Bess said. “A good passer and a leader, very vocal. … (He had) great experience because he had played a lot overseas and then he also played Division I (at Coastal Carolina). He had some experience that he could share and help others with.”

Kitenge led the team in rebounding and assists, while Niang led the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game. Bess described Niang as “one of the best shooters that we’ve had in a while and he really shot it well.”

Another silver lining the team’s lack of depth brought was extra playing time several of the team’s freshmen, including Caleb Young and D.J. Prater.

“It really helped some guys get some playing time and some experience for next year — that type of stuff,” Bess said. “There’s a hidden blessing there.”

Last but certainly not least, Bess said recruiting for next season is going really well.

“A lot of the high school seasons are ending and we’re trying to get visits, commitments and different things,” Bess said. “But recruiting is going really well. We are in on some really talented guys.

“Things are looking up for the Raiders. That’s a positive note.”