WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — The Three Rivers College men's basketball team struggled with slow starts in each of its first three games.
The Raiders took a big step in putting those slow starts behind them on Friday, using an early run to take the lead for good in the early going on the way to a 76-61 win over the Sauk Valley Skyhawks in the first game of the Culver's Midwest Classic at Southeastern Community College.
Myles Perkins's 3-pointer with 16:27 left in the first half gave the Skyhawks (1-2) a 5-4 lead, but Three Rivers scored the next seven points to take an 11-5 lead on Tristin Fleming's 3-pointer with 13:35 left in the opening session.
The Raiders never trailed again.
Three Rivers (2-2) pushed its lead into double digits (23-12) on Matt Hampton's three-point play with 8:30 left in the first half, and maintained a 6-10 point lead the remainder of the first 20 minutes on the way to a 38-30 edge at the intermission.
The Raiders quickly pushed the lead back into double digits after the break when Davin Francis drained a 3-pointer just 29 seconds into the second half to give Three Rivers 41-30 lead. Francis then drained another triple with 15:57 left in the contest to put the Raiders ahead 47-33 — their biggest lead of the game to that point.
The Skyhawks did not give up, immediately answering with a trey on the ensuing possession and another basket to get the Three Rivers lead back into single digits at 47-38, but TRC got seven straight points from Fleming, whose triple from the top of the key with 12:29 remaining pushed the Three Rivers lead to 54-38.
Back-to-back triples from Fleming and Francis made it 62-43 Raiders with 9:32 to go, then Antonio Williams threw down a dunk with 8:49 to go to cap a 9-0 run and push the lead to 22 points at 65-43 — their biggest lead of the game.
Johann Pautsch's inside jumper with 3:41 to go gave Three Rivers a 74-55 lead before the Skyhawks closed the contest on a 6-2 run to make the final score a bit closer.
The Raiders had a strong day on the defensive end, limiting Sauk Valley to just 28% shooting from the field (19-for-68) and also dominating on the boards, outrebounding the Skyhawks 53-26.
Fleming came off the bench to pace Three Rivers with 24 points — including going 4-for-4 behind the arc — while Francis also drained all four of his 3-point attempts to add 17 points and six rebounds. Hampton added 12 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while Williams had nine points and nine rebounds. Pautsch added seven rebounds, while Manny Camboma added five points and five rebounds off the bench.
J.P. Schilling paced Sauk Valley with 12 points, while Angok Kucha added 11.
The Raiders are back in action at 10 a.m. Saturday when they open the second day of the Culver's Midwest Classic with Triton in a rematch of last season's Midwest District championship game.
Notes: Triton defeated Mineral Area 72-69 on Friday afternoon in the second game of the day at the Culver's Midwest Classic. … Other teams playing at the classic include Region XVI rivals Moberly, Missouri State-West Plains and State Fair, plus Cloud County (Kansas), Highland (Illinois) and host Southeastern. … Hampton currently leads the Raiders in scoring at 20.5 points per game, while Fleming averages 15.5 points per contest, Williams averages 11 per game, Francis is averaging 10.5 in each contest and Josiah Cotto averages 9.5 points per game. … Williams currently leads Three Rivers in rebounding at 6.3 rebounds per game, while Hampton averages six boards per contest and the duo of Fleming and Francis average five rebounds apiece.
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic