Survive and advance.
That's exactly what the Three Rivers College men's basketball team did as it outlasted the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzlies for a 94-86 victory in the 2024 Region 16 Tournament quarterfinals at the Libla Family Sports Complex Tuesday night.
The Raiders (14-17) jumped out to an early lead they never relinquished in the first half, up 13-9 after the first five minutes of the game.
Caleb Young led the Three Rivers attack with 14 points, including three early 3-pointers to extend the Raiders' lead to 22-16 halfway through the first period.
"I think we wanted it and we were together better," said Raiders head coach Brian Bess. "We had a great start, so we were really happy about that."
Young led all scorers for the game with 27 points. Teammate Gemani Charles scored 18 points, while Faheim Meran put in 15.
Charles came off the bench for the Raiders and hit three treys in a row to push the home team out to a 33-20 lead.
Young's basket at 4:15 in the first stretched the Raiders' lead to 40-25, their biggest margin to that point in the game.
That margin wouldn't hold up, however. Back-to-back Raider turnovers allowed the Grizzlies (10-21) to cut their deficit to 42-36 with two minutes left.
Young and D.J. Prater both hit from the field to push the lead back to 10 points, but a West Plains 3-pointer, another Three Rivers turnover — their eighth of the half — and a Grizzly layup made the halftime score 46-41 in favor of the Raiders.
"We started getting away from what we were doing that was so successful, which was make one pass and shoot," Bess said. "We missed a few, and that gave them a chance to get right back in the game."
The second half opened with both teams trading baskets, and then a West Plains 3-pointer cut the Raiders' lead to 48-46. The Grizzlies took their first lead of the game, 53-52, with a pair of free throws from Trayon Grant-Foster, who led West Plains with 19 points.
After a two from Young to regain the lead for the Raiders, Charles hit a 3, Demetris "Meechie" White made a backdoor layup, and Deuce Alexander scored on a putback followed by three free throws to extend the Three Rivers lead to nine at 64-55.
With 9:30 remaining in the second half, the Raiders had stretched their lead back to 11 points, but another Grizzly triple cut the lead to 70-62.
Charles and Young came up big for the Raiders over the next four minutes, keeping their lead in the 8-10 point range as West Plains stayed in the game with clutch baskets when it needed them.
Just as in the first half, however, the Raiders saw a double-digit lead reduced to three points with less than four minutes remaining in the game, 78-75. The lead would move from five points to three and back again as the teams traded points.
Young extended the lead to six points with a basket and foul shot with two minutes remaining, but the Raiders defense couldn't get the game-clinching stop, with West Plains putting in a second-chance shot to make it 85-81 with 1:26 left.
"We finally got back in transition better, and I thought we guarded the ball a little bit better, but they got downhill and were still attacking us," Bess said.
Three Rivers sealed their win in the final minute with free throws from Young, White and Alexander, which accounted for their 9-5 run to claim the victory.
The Raiders move on to the Region 16 semifinals this Thursday to take on Mineral Area College in Park Hills.
"We're excited to get to play them again," Bess said.
Mark Sanders - Daily American Republic