It’s rematch time for the Three Rivers men’s basketball team when it heads to Illinois and John A. Logan when the squads hook up at 3 p.m. Saturday.
The game will be a rekindling of sorts after the two teams battled in a hot contest in Poplar Bluff last month with John A. Logan winning a double overtime affair, 99-95. John A. Logan (10-2) is currently ranked eighth in the NJCAA poll and this will be the seventh game against a team currently ranked or receiving votes in the poll.
The Raiders have battled to a 5-9 overall mark including 0-2 in Region XVI play against a brutal schedule with a team that only had one familiar face on the Three Rivers campus from a year ago.
“We have had a really tough schedule that should help us in the second half of the season,” Three Rivers head coach Brian Bess said. “Playing tough teams should help you when it comes to Region stuff. That’s the takeaway hopefully. We just have to learn how to win. We’re right there and really close, we just haven’t figured out how to finish off games well.”
Bess notes the team’s togetherness and toughness need to continue to evolve and grow.
“I am a believer and I believe that when we figure it out we are going to take off and be really good,” Bess said.
To some degree, the Raiders tend to miss out on some of those big possessions that could not only help a 6-0 run become more impactful with one more basket or stop to put the squeeze on the opposition when things are in Three Rivers favor. It could come into play considering seven of their nine losses are by 10 or less points.
“I don’t think we’ve figured that out yet,” Bess said. “We’re really close, but not quite figuring it out and the other teams and coaches are calling timeouts and figuring out ways to attack us. That might be an area we need to get better at.”
Bess said the team has shown glimpses of strong free throw shooting (75.7 percent), which can be a sign of a team’s ability to focus and lockdown.
“It hasn’t carried over to other areas of our shooting, but I think it will,” Bess said noting the team is shooting 42.7 and 31.4 percent from the field and beyond the arc.
“An area we have to get better at is (getting to the free throw line),” Bess said. “We have to be more aggressive and figure how to get to the free throw line more. We’re looking for fouls and not finishing through the contact as well.
“Those are things we have to, as coaches, get better at.”
Bess said the opponents appear to make the proper adjustments to make nights difficult for some of the Raiders who are playing at a higher level in a game or during a sequence of time.
“We’ve also got to do a better job with them and guarding the ball with help,” Bess said.
By the numbers
Other areas of the Raiders play during the first 14 games include the Three Rivers men have outrebounded opponents by 7.1 per game with 38.5 per 20 minutes.
They are assisting 11.9 of 26.6 baskets made per game while committing 15.7 turnovers a night.
They are scoring 73.3 points a night compared to 73.6 by the opponents and are beting outshot from three (34.5 to 31.4) and the field (43.6 to 42.7).
Individually, Jordan Hamilton (15.5), Lamont Jackson (12.7), Mo Niang (11.0), B.J. Francis (10.7) and Hosana Kitenge (10.2) lead the Raiders in scoring while Kitenge (7.4), Hamilton (6.1), Jackson (4.7), Niang (4.6) and Makur Jongkuch (4.4) have been the chairmen of the boards.
Francis, who has missed eight games with injury, has led with 3.8 assists-per-night and Jackson paces the defense with 1.9 steals per contest.
Alan Dale - Daily American Republic