Late in the second half of Monday's home game against the ASU-Newport Aviators, the Three Rivers College men's basketball team closed out the game on a 10-0 run, beating the Aviators 68-53 for their first win of the season.
"It feels good," said sophomore guard Matt Hampton. "We fought hard. We started off slow, but a win is a win."
The game opened with a mid-range floater from Raiders freshman guard Josiah Cotto, which was answered back quickly with the first Aviators bucket coming from sophomore Terrance Hall.
The Raiders offense got into a rhythm going up 12-5 before a timeout was called. When play resumed, the Aviators rallied to make the game close with shots from Hall and freshman Gavin Lamar at one point cutting the Raiders lead to 26-23.
Just before Raiders head coach Robert Kirby called a timeout, Aviator freshman guard Branton Allen ran down court coming away with a slam dunk.
Raiders freshman Kaleb Williams answered back with a dunk of his own sending the Three Rivers fanbase into an eruption of applause as the Raiders took a 34-32 lead into the half.
"You can adjust and do what's asked of you," Kirby said. "Share the ball, be a great teammate, have each others backs on defense. Share the ball. It can't stick in your hands. It has to move. We eventually started to do that and the game became easier."
It took a few minutes for either team to score in the second half. The first baskets came on free throws from Hall tying the game at 34. The Aviators got their first lead when freshman Quentin Dabney came away with a shot leading 36-34.
However, not long after Hampton took matters into his own hands connecting with a combination of layups, mid-range jumpers, and 3-point shots as the Raiders offense started to break the game open.
"He [Hampton] is a guy that can go get buckets," Kirby said. "He knows how to score. He's learning how to be a better passer from the standpoint of seeing people on the court. That's one thing he's learning how to do better right now is trusting his teammates in order to make those moves and those passes he needs to make."
The Raiders were able to close out the game on a 10-0 run with six of those points coming from Hampton as he finished with 19 on the night, helping lead the Raiders to their first win.
"I think to be honest the first half I wasn't as aggressive," Hampton said. "The second half, I put my head down, went to the basket, got fouled, and they gave me open 3's and things like that, so I think that was it."
The Raiders move to 1-2 overall on the season. They return to action Friday in West Burlington, Iowa, where they will take on Sauk Valley Community College, followed by a Saturday match with Triton College.
"We've got to go crank it back up," Kirby said. "We've got to prepare for two teams at the same time. Two really good teams coming up. Triton is ranked in the top 25 in the country. We asked for a tough schedule. We wanted a tough schedule because I thought this group if they grow and mature like they're capable of, they can handle the stress of that type of schedule."
Alex Martin - Daily American Republic