Greyhounds Battle to End at Three Rivers

The Greyhounds refused to go down without a fight in battling Three Rivers College Raiders to an 81-74 home decision Wednesday in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

Three Rivers took advantage of 26 ASU Mid-South turnovers and 11 more free throws despite losing the battle of the boards, 45-37.

Tied at 9-9, the Raiders pulled ahead with a 7-0 run thanks to the Greyhounds being flagged for four consecutive turnovers, then stretched it out to 10, 24-14 at the 10:50 mark. ASU Mid-South would cut it to 6 points, but Three Rivers responded and took their largest lead of the game, 39-24, with 4:27 remaining in the first half.

But the Greyhounds rallied once again by basically holding Three Rivers scoreless the rest of the way, going on a 12-2 run to end the half trailing 41-36. Zach Byrd scored 9 points in the stretch including a traditional three-point play, Jalen Lynn got open for a three-pointer, and the Raiders only basket was a controversial goaltending call.

Ike Moore opened the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer, and the Greyhounds kept the lead within 4 points until just under the 16-minute mark when the Raiders went on a 5-0 run to lead 52-45, but another Moore trey closed the gap to 4 points and ASU Mid-South pulled within 1 point, 53-52, on a Lynn layup with 13:07 remaining.

Moore, who led the Greyhounds in scoring, went to the bench after being called for his second and third fouls in a span of 20 seconds, and was flagged for his fourth foul 52 seconds after returning to the game. The Raiders then went on a run, increasing the lead to 68-56 with 8:14 left in the game. Moore then returned to the game to help ASU Mid-South go on a 7-0 run before being called for his fifth foul with 6:43 remaining.

The Greyhounds would keep the lead at 2-3 possessions but could never close the gap the rest of the way.

Moore led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting despite playing only 23 minutes before being called for five fouls. Zach Byrd finished with his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Jalen Lynn scored 18 points, Kevin Fulton netted 10 points, and Christian White pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to go with 4 points and 3 blocked shots.

The Greyhounds return to The Dog House for their first home game of 2020 Saturday at 4:00pm against Region 2 opponent SAU Tech.