The Raiders held a high-scoring team to its lowest point total of the season — and 37 points under its average — but the Three Rivers men needed one more stop Thursday night at the Libla Family Sports Complex.
Aman Measho's jumper from the foul line with 10 seconds remaining gave Otero (Colo.) a 63-62 win over the Raiders in the Peoples Community Bank Thanksgiving Classic.
Three Rivers, which had a season-low shooting percentage, never got off a shot in the end.
"They went to (Measho), we thought in the timeout they'd go to (him) and he made an 8-footer wide open," Bess said of the go-ahead bucket.
"They were trying to draw our big over and throw it to him. That's a good play."
Three Rivers will face Southwest Tennessee at 7 p.m. Friday before a tipoff at the same time Saturday against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, which beat Southwest Tennessee 88-69 earlier Thursday.
The Raiders (4-4) fell to 3-2 in games decided by single digits.
"We're going to win some and lose some I guess. We need to win some close ones," Bess said. "They're good."
The Rattlers (8-1) came in ranked fifth in the nation in points per game (100.9) and third in 3-pointers made per game (11.8). They had not scored less than 83 all season.
Three Rivers, meanwhile, was ranked in the top-60 for points allowed per game (67.1) and had not given up more than 80 all season.
Lamar Wilkerson led Three Rivers with 16 points and nine rebounds while Kinyon Hodges added 13 points. Keith Kiner scored six points, 12 under his season average, picking up a fourth foul with just under 13 minutes to play.
Paul Greene scored eight points and five rebounds, all in the first half, but didn't play after the break due to trouble seeing out of one eye, Bess said.
The Raiders shot 33.8% from the field, including 4 of 14 from 3-point range, after missing all 13 of their shots in a loss Saturday.
Three Rivers, however, scored 17 second-chance points as each team finished with 41 rebounds.
Measho scored 13 points while AC Curry added 12 points for the Rattlers, who shot 40.3% from the field, including 8 of 29 from 3-point range.
Jonathan Ninkingira's long 3-pointer put the Raiders up 56-55 with 4:18 to play but Otero scored the next six points, four by Measho.
Down 61-56 with under 2 minutes, Kiner sank two foul shots before the Raiders got a stop when the ball was knocked out of bounds. The Rattlers nearly stole the ball back, but Lamont Jackson recovered near midcourt, escaped a double-team and headed to the basket, scoring with 65 seconds left to make it a one-point game.
Otero missed a 3-pointer and Shannon Strickland came away with the rebound.
Wilkerson was sent to the line with 29.3 seconds left where he sank both shots for a 62-61 lead.
Following a timeout, Measho knocked down an open shot for the lead with 10 seconds left. Three Rivers called timeout with 5.0 on the clock but never got a shot off when the ball was knocked free and recovered by a diving Otero player.
Neither team led by more than six the entire game and that was in the final minute of the first half but Wilkerson answered with a 3-pointer off a cross pass as the Raiders trailed 32-28 at halftime.
Wilkerson's three-point play tied it at 36-all at the 14:40 mark but Otero's Tommy Kamard later sank a 3. The Raiders took their first lead since there was 9:30 left in the first half when Hodges got a putback for a 42-41 advantage with 11:13 to go.
Strickland later sank a long 3 with 2 seconds on the shot clock to put the Raiders up four but Curry answered with a 3-pointer.
The Rattlers pulled even at 47-all with 7 minutes to play and the teams traded baskets and the lead over the next few minutes to set the dramatic ending.
Brian Rosener - Daily American Republic