POPLAR BLUFF – The Three Rivers men's basketball set a season high in points scored and notched their sixth win in a row on Wednesday with an entertaining 101-82 win over Tennessee Prep at the Libla Family Sports Complex.
"It's been a really fun stretch," Raiders coach Brian Bess said. "There was a point where we were 6-7 and we had a lot of doubts, but we've turned it around."
The Raiders were led by fan favorite Jack Below as he dropped 25 points and made five of eight from beyond the arc.
"Coach Gene Bess has been telling me all year to keep working with Jack and he has a lot of faith in him," Bess said. "I like his attitude and how hard he plays. He's a guy that can get going and if there don't guard him, he can score a lot in a hurry."
Kinyon Hodges was also in the 20's with 21 points as he showed his high-flying ability in front of the home crowd while Lamar Wilkerson and Paul Greene scored 18 points each. Greene was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine on the game.
Keith Kiner did not dress for Wednesday night's game as he was dealing with elbow inflammation. He said that he will be returning to the lineup on Saturday.
The Raiders (14-8) started the game off with the lead as they had a 19-7 advantage over the Diplomat Lions seven minutes into the game. Three Rivers then extended the lead to 50-33, capped off by a little showmanship on a dunk by Hodges. Both teams scored six points after that as the Raiders went into halftime with a 56-39 lead.
Tennessee Prep started the second half with a 10-6 run in the first four minutes to cut the Raider lead to 62-49, but the Raiders responded with a 10-4 run to make it 72-53 Three Rivers with 12 minutes to play.
The Raiders still had the lead, 87-69 with just over four minutes to play and from there they went on a 14-8 run highlighted by three straight 3-pointers from Below to make it 101-77 Raiders with just under a minute to go. Tennessee Prep managed to get five more points, but the Raiders had more than enough in the bank to secure the win.
Three Rivers will return to Region XVI play this weekend with a trip up to Mineral Area to take on the Cardinals.
"It's going to be a tough atmosphere this weekend," Bess said. "It's their homecoming so they'll have their largest crowd of the year and they're a tough team on top of that."
The Raiders will play after the Lady Raiders take on Lady Cardinals on Saturday.
Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic