Raiders earn sweep of West Plains with nervous finish

It’s safe to say that the next week or so of Three Rivers men’s basketball will be as potentially dramatic as possible.

It all came to be after the Raiders played host to Missouri State-West Plains Wednesday night. With a win, the Raiders could secure a .500 regular-season mark with a win at nationally-ranked Moberly Area College Saturday night.

But first things first — the Raiders got out to an early lead against West Plains and it held up in an 80-78 win that saw Three Rivers (14-15, 5-6 Region XVI) also move closer to a .500 record in Region XVI play. The win also cemented a three-game sweep for the Raiders of the season series between the two teams.

Leading the Raiders to the victory were Hosana Kitenge (21 points, 11 rebounds, five assists), Mario Fleming (19 points), Mo Niang (15 points, six rebounds) and Lamont Jackson (14 points).

Three Rivers had one of its better shooting nights to the tune of 52.5 percent, even if the 3-point game suffered at 28.6 percent.

“They were 1-for-13 from three in the first half and we thought we had to keep them doing that, but instead they kind of turned the tables in the second half,” Three Rivers head coach Brian Bess said. “I love that (they are finishing better) for our team. We are playing for each other and helping one another. Hosane was really good until he started to try and play point. They had real trouble matching up with the big fella.

“It was a game I thought we should win and needed to win. I would have liked to have won by 20, but you know how that goes.”

Three Rivers came into the game hot off its near-100 point performance Saturday when it beat Tennessee Prep 99-72 — and the Raiders torched the bottom of the nets early Wednesday, leading 14-4 through the first four-plus minutes, thanks in part to a pair of Niang bombs from deep.

The next 10 minutes saw the squads battle evenly while the Raiders lead vacillated between four and nine points.

A late push helped the Raiders to a 37-28 halftime lead.

Kitenge got hot after intermission and it was needed as both teams started off like bubbling pots of coffee. The Raiders center scored eight points in the first six-plus minutes out of the locker room to keep his team ahead 49-43.

It was a very similar flow to the first half as both teams delivered mini runs against the other and a West Plains burst forced a Bess timeout with 7:13 up 62-58.

The inconsistency both ways made for some definite drama in the late stages as the Raiders clung tight to a four-point lead as time wound down.

That’s when Three Rivers began to show off its new ability of consistent finishing, even if West Plains didn’t make it easy.

Niang hit two needed free throws with 25 seconds left to put the home team up five just before seeing a 3 drop on the other end to make it a two-point game with 17.6 seconds left.

Jackson knocked home two more free tosses and that came in handy as West Plains kept throwing up prayers that were answered enough times to make the Raiders sweat before cementing things at the buzzer.

“I like that we are figuring out our identity and Caleb Young and Mario have given us some spark,” Bess said. “Gene Bess told me he liked Mario flashing to the elbow and shooting jumpers because he’s pretty good at that. I thought maybe I should do that. If Hosane is down below and has two or three guys on him, it leaves him wide open so I like that.”

Three Rivers already had the No. 3 region seed clinched before the contest. The Raiders are set to play Mineral Area College at 6 p.m. on March 3 at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The other semifinal will see Moberly Area take on the Tuesday winner of West Plains and State Fair College, with a 4 p.m. tip-off planned.