PARK HILLS — The Three Rivers College men's basketball team's futility at the Bob Sechrest Fieldhouse against the Mineral Area College Cardinals continues.
MAC led by as many as 18 points in the first half and held off a big comeback by the Raiders to take a 75-66 win in the Region XVI Tournament championship game here Saturday night.
"The guys did an outstanding job of coming together after getting down at the start of the game," Three Rivers coach Robert Kirby said. … "(But) we can't have 18 turnovers on the road in a championship game. …
"I thought (we) played extremely hard. Give (MAC coach) Tony (Irons) credit — he did a great job of having his team ready to play in a big game."
Three Rivers ends its season with a record of 20-11.
The Cardinals (20-11) used a 22-4 run in the first half to take control of the game, taking a 26-8 lead on Nazir Allen's jumper with 6:47 left before the break.
Three Rivers did not give up, going on a 9-0 run and cutting the Cardinals' lead to 26-17 on an Easton Evans 3-pointer from the corner with 4:35 left in the half.
The Raiders trailed 31-22 at the break.
Three Rivers continued to chip away in the second half, pulling within three points (45-42) on a Myles Jones layup with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation.
But that was as close as the Raiders would get.
Terron Garrett drained a 3-pointer in front of the MAC bench with 5:54 remaining to stretch his team's lead to 52-44, giving the Cardinals much-needed breathing room and some momentum.
After Matt Hampton's basket with just over four minutes to go drew the Raiders back within four points at 52-48, Garrett bombed another triple on Mineral Area's next possession to push the lead back to seven. Then Allen recorded a two-handed dunk with 3:06 remaining to make it 57-49 — and a Maki Joyner layup 18 seconds later pushed the lead back into double digits and effectively ice the contest.
Garrett paced the Cardinals with 21 points, while Joyner added 18 and Allen had 12. Garrett also had seven rebounds and a pair of steals, while Allen and Joyner also had a pair of steals and Allen blocked two shots.
Hampton led Three Rivers with 21 points, while Tristin Fleming added 11, Antonio Williams had 10, Johann Pautsch contributed seven and Josiah Cotto finished with six.
Hampton added six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals, while Williams added nine rebounds to just miss a double-double, Pautsch had seven rebounds and Allen Stoddard blocked a pair of shots.
With the loss, the Raiders say says goodbye to a talented sophomore class which includes Hampton, Williams, Pautsch, Stoddard, Evans, Fleming, Davin Francis, Sikou Diagouraga and Bryce Wallace.
Over the last two seasons, Three Rivers finished with a record of 41-24, recorded the team's first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2017 and also made back-to-back region tournament championship game appearances for the first time since 2010.
Notes: After the game, Hampton was named Region XVI Player of the Year, while Williams was named first-team all-Region XVI and Pautsch was named second-team all-region. ... Irons was named Region XVI Coach of the Year. ... The Raiders have lost 12 in a row to Mineral Area in Park Hills and have not beaten them at the Bob Sechrest Fieldhouse since Feb. 16, 2019. ... The Cardinals will travel to Chicago next weekend to face Region IV champion Malcolm X for the Midwest District championship. Malcolm X won 80-79 at defending Region IV champion Triton 80-79 in the Region IV championship contest Saturday night.
Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic