The Bank of Grandin Thanksgiving Tournament started off well for the Three Rivers College Raiders basketball team with a win on opening night in Poplar Bluff.
However, that thanksgiving win over Motlow State CC was followed up by two hard-fought losses to two legitimate programs and it happened again Saturday night as the tourney wrapped with the Raiders (5-6) dropping an 89-79 decision to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.
Mo Niang was the big spark for the Raiders as he scored 22 points and snared nine rebounds while Lamont Jackson added 18 points, Jordan Hamilton dropped in 15 points and Mario Fleming finished with 14 points.
"The first half tonight, we were really good: We got to the high post and really took advantage of them," Three Rivers head coach Brian Bess said. "They went on one big run on us and we couldn't get it stopped. It was like a leaking boat. They made some tough shots.
"I assumed everybody would be tired on the third day of this, so it's not an excuse, but it's probably what happened. It's facts."
Niang and Jackson were both picked to the All-Tournament team.
"Mo has been putting up a lot of shots and has been working on shooting in practice and I am proud of that," Bess said. "Lamont may be the most improved guy we've seen. He has really made good strides and grown."
Three Rivers outrebounded the Golden Norsemen 35-31, but Bess wants to see his team work on getting even brassier on the boards and overall.
"We are going to work on our toughness, our footwork and handling pressure better because it seems like everyone is going to trap us and press us," Bess said. "We have to get better at handling those situations.
"We also have to improve our 1-on-1 defense because it looks like we are getting isolated a lot."
The Raiders used solid defense and a patient offensive approach to take a 22-19 lead with just south of nine minutes left in the first half.
Three Rivers would see their guests battle tightly with the Raiders and the host would take a 42-40 lead into the second half.
The visiting Golden Norseman got out hot to start the second half, building a 65-52 lead and the Raiders tried to chip away.
With the shot clock ringing down, Niang hit a three to bring Three Rivers to within 69-61 with 8:30 left in the contest.
The Raiders chipped away and pulled to within 76-71 with four minutes left.
Earlier in the day, Northeast Mississippi CC defeated Motlow College in overtime.
Next, Three Rivers heads to St. Louis to take on Southwestern Illinois College at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Alan Dale - Daily American Republic