The Three Rivers men's team has been slowly finding its mojo since the beginning of 2023, but the visiting Cardinals made all the right moves in finding their way to a relatively easy 79-65 victory Saturday night at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

The Raiders were outshot from behind the 3-point line (13 makes to five) while making eight more free throws to account for essentially the difference in the contest.

"The body language wasn't as good in our huddle after half," Three Rivers head coach Brian Bess said after he saw his team's halftime deficit more than doubled early in the second half. "It's something to figure out I guess."

The two teams battled tightly in the first few moments before the Cardinals grabbed some momentum and got up by 11 midway through the first half, but the Raiders kept scrapping.

The Raiders crept back within seven and had a chance to climb closer before the intermission, but had to settle for trailing the Cardinals 37-28 at the half.

Three Rivers finished the first 20 minutes shooting 38 percent from the field.

The Cardinals (18-3, 5-1 Region XVI) hit four consecutive triples to start the second half while the Raiders went empty and suddenly Three Rivers trailed 49-28 in two minutes.

"Those four 3s to start the half was the difference," Bess said. "It was like they found who they wanted to go to and got some shots.

"They also pulled a Hack-a-Shaq on Hosana and he didn't shoot his free throws well. That's an area we have to get better at. He was mad at himself for not performing at the highest level. We got to have Hosana healthy and making his free throws."

A Mo Niang layup off a turnover stopped the bleeding. However, Three Rivers (9-12, 2-4) kept battling to pull within 13 points, but MAC would have the right answer at the wrong times for the Raiders. The Cardinals lead vacillated between 13-20 points for the majority of the last 15 minutes of the game.

Three Rivers was led by Hosana Kitenge (19 points), Caleb Young (18) and Mario Fleming (11). Young also collected a game-high nine rebounds, while Lamont Jackson dished off five assists.

"Caleb is playing really well though and I am excited by his growth," Bess said. "He's really bouncy, athletic, and can go get buckets."

Amarion Wilson led Mineral Area with 15 points, while Manu Musemena added 12 and the duo of Dior Conners and Za-Ontay Boothman each had 11.

Raiders to unveil Gene Bess statue this weekend

A statue of former head coach Gene Bess will be unveiled before this Satuday's men's and women's basketball games against Moberly Area at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

The unveiling of the statue 2will take place at 4 p.m. as part of TRC's Raider Reunion festivities.

Bess won 1,300 games in 50 seasons as the Raiders' head coach.

Alan Dale - Daily American Republic