POPLAR BLUFF – Fans packed the house at the Libla Family Sports Complex and the Three Rivers men's basketball team gave them a come from behind thriller as they defeated No. 13 Mineral Area 72-64 on Wednesday.
"We really turned up the defense in the second half," Three Rivers coach Brian Bess said. "They had trouble getting off a shot and we held them to 37% from the field in the second half and I thought that was the difference."
The Raiders had three guys in double figures led by Kieth Kiner's 21-point game followed by Lamar Wilkerson with 18 and Kinyon Hodges with 13 points. Paul Greene kept putting up his Dennis Rodman numbers with six points and 14 rebounds.
"Paul was missing some boards in the first half and he was starting to get down on himself," Bess said. "Kevin Jones actually came up to me and told me to get on him since he listens to me. So at halftime I was getting on him and all of the sudden, he was able to play his game."
Hodges had the tough task of guarding Mineral's Brett Thompson as he was held to only four points for the game.
"We've been kidding him all week about that matchup," Bess said. "Those two are pretty good ballplayers."
The Raiders (17-10, 7-5 XVI) were down in the first half, but kept a manageable distance behind Mineral Area (22-6, 9-3 XVI) as they were down by nine, 40-31 at halftime.
Mineral Area maintained their lead early in the second half with the Cardinals up 56-50, 12 and a half minutes in, but the Raiders were able to get on an 11-4 run capped off by a 3-pointer by Kiner to take the lead, 61-60 with 2:26 to play.
From there, Three Rivers was able to put the game away from the free throw line in the final minute and come away with the win against a nationally ranked team and the top seed in the region.
The Raiders will be home on Saturday as they'll host Southeast Missouri Prep at 7 p.m.
Robert Augsdorfer - Daily American Republic