MIAMI, Okla. - Three Rivers went into Saturday's game as one of the highest-scoring teams in the country and kept it up.
Fifth in the nation in points per game as of Saturday morning, Three Rivers beat 24th ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 103-91 on Saturday in Miami, Okla.
"We were proud of their effort on Thursday, but your character is based on what you take into your next game," Three Rivers coach Brian Bess said. "I thought we brought a lot of energy tonight. We missed Brahm, but a good team effort."
The Raiders (3-1) have scored at least 100 points in each of their first four games as part of a difficult opening week with four games in eight days, including three on the road and two ranked opponents in three days.
The road trip continues at St. Louis Community College on Wednesday before Three Rivers hosts Link Year Prep on Feb. 6 with their Region XVI opener against State Fair on Feb. 10 at the Libla Family Sports Complex.
Lamar Wilkerson led Three Rivers against NEO with 30 points on 11 for 15 shooting. Wilkerson was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers over 26 minutes and also had three steals, three assists, and three rebounds.
Amadou Fall had 16 points and seven rebounds, including three offensive rebounds, on 7 for 12 shooting.
Kevin Jones added 12 points, three assists and three steals off the bench.
After starting point guard Kinyon Hodges got into early foul trouble, Shannon Strickland played about 15 minutes of point guard in the first half and played alongside Hodges a lot in the second half. Strickland played a team-high 31 minutes and finished with nine points and 11 of the team's 24 assists.
The Raiders shot 59.1% overall, 44% on 3-pointers and 82.4% on free throws.
They were plus-23 on points off turnovers, plus-8 on points in the paint, plus-8 on second-chance points and plus-24 on points off the bench.
Three Rivers led by as much as 18 with 3 1/2 minutes left in the game before NEO made a couple of late 3s to close the gap.
Tucson Redding led NEO (4-1) with 21 points. Brian Moore Jr. had 19 points, six assists and four rebounds, and Nik Konstantynovskyi finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Brahm Harris did not play for Three Rivers due to an ankle injury suffered against John A. Logan on Thursday. Bess said X-Rays showed Harris did not break anything, and Bess said Harris hopes to be able to play in Wednesday's game at St. Louis.
Harris was Three Rivers' top returning scorer coming into the season, and through three games he is averaging 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 steals.
Mandell Campbell also did not play because of a coach's decision.
Three Rivers' newest player Jason Cherry also made his debut Saturday and got two points, a rebound and a steal in 8 minutes.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic