SEDALIA, Mo. — The Raiders had a much-improved second half against Southeastern Iowa on Saturday, but it wasn't enough. Three Rivers trailed by 21 points at halftime and eventually lost 75- 67 to go 0-2 in the 2019 Missouri/Iowa Challenge at State Fair Community College. "At halftime of the Burlington game we regrouped and I felt pretty good. I think we are making progress," Three Rivers coach Gene Bess said. "We have a lot of people who are having to make major decisions and it is taking them a while to adapt." Brahm Harris led Three Rivers with 20 points and Tallon Fonda added 16. Three Rivers shot 14 percentage points worse in the second half than the first but took 13 more shots.

The Raiders finished 37% from the field. Beyond the arc, they were 3 for 5 in the first half, and with the big deficit, were 6 for 23 in the second. They were also only 2 for 4 on free throws in the first half and 14 for 19 in the second. "We actually picked our game up, it looked like we were playing with more enthusiasm," Bess said. "(Austin) Parker stepped it up pretty good. He has been a good energy guy for us and we have to figure out a way to play that way from the beginning and play 40 minutes."

Lydell Geffrard led Three Rivers with seven rebounds and Kinyon Hodges had six. "We attacked their press better. We got the ball to the middle. We got it into Lydell and we had two guys running up the sidelines fast," Bess said. Zurabi Zhgenti led Southeastern with 17 points while Diew Moses had 16, Elias Ezenekwe got 15 and Boubacar Kamissoko had 14. Three Rivers (2-2) travels Wednesday to No. 20 John A. Logan (Ill.). Indian Hills, which beat the Raiders 87-58 on Friday, moved up to No. 4 in the latest NJCAA rankings released Monday.  

Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic