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The Rice Raiders’ varsity basketball team took a step forward this year and improved their record from a season ago. Not only did the program take a step forward, but the team itself also made strides in terms of individual improvement and team performance. The Raiders picked up a few signature wins and quality performances throughout this season as they fielded a much more competitive squad than in recent seasons. With just a limited number of seniors on the squad, Rice will remain optimistic that many of their improvements will continue into next season. While there was progress throughout the season, the final two games of the year represent the growing pains of a team still accruing experience. After taking a huge loss to Industrial earlier in the week, the Raiders put up a good fight against Yoakum before falling behind late in the regular season finale.
Vs Industrial, L, 58-45 The Raiders’ second matchup of the season against the Industrial Cobras finished with a near-identical scoreline to their first bout in early January. Many of the same issues from that game arose in this one as Rice fell behind and failed to cut into the deficit. The main problem was that the Raiders once again struggled to slow down the Cobras’ offensive attack, allowing 58 points in each game against Industrial. Rice had a respectable performance on the offensive end themselves, but the results on the defensive end undermined an otherwise solid outing.
Ta’marion Turner led the way for the Raiders with 21 points as he attacked and attempted to shoulder the offensive load. Robert Bennett had an impactful outing as well with nine points as the team’s second- leading scorer.
Vs Yoakum, L, 51-42 Friday night’s regular season finale was a much more competitive outing than their previous matchup earlier in the week. The Raiders stayed within arm’s reach of the lead as the teams battled throughout much of the game. Rice came out with much better defensive results to give themselves a chance to climb back, but they could not find enough scoring at the end of the game to get over the hump as their fourth-quarter slump led to the finale defeat.
Ta’marion Turner once again finished as the top scorer, picking up 13 points for the Raiders. Robert Bennett matched his total from earlier in the week with another nine-point performance. Senior Jalen Porch rounded out the top three scorers with eight points of his own.
