Riverland's Zach Bunch goes up against a pair of NIACC defenders during the first half Wednesday night at RCC. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

Riverland freshman Zach Bunch poured in 40 points in his first game in Riverland Gym Wednesday.

Unfortunately for Bunch, it wasn’t 43.

Bunch, a 6-2 guard from Kenosha, Wis., had a game-winning three come up about a foot short as time expired and the Blue Devils lost to North Iowa Area Community College 87-85 in their home opener.

Riverland's Taylor Morgan looks for an outlet under pressure of NIACC's Dejoni Norris during the first half Wednesday night at RCC. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“As soon as I let it go I thought it was good, but it came up a little short,” said Bunch, who went 16-for-23 from the field and pulled down eight rebounds. “ We lost, but we’ve got to play harder next time. We’ve got to brush this off and move on to the next game.”

Bunch’s game winning attempt came from the wing and it was a clean look.

Riverland (2-1 overall) led 60-40 with 12:48 left in the game after Bunch scored six points during a 9-0 run.

But the Blue Devils couldn’t hold off NIACC, which took the lead for good when Nathan Buchheit dove to the court to get a steal, and then lobbed the ball up to Darius Wilson, who slammed home a dunk to make it 80-78 with 2:06 left.

NIACC got back in the game when Chris Davis hit a pair of baseline threes and Chris Thorne hit a triple from the top of the key to close the gap.

“This game just came down to us not hitting free throws and taking care of the basketball,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “We played extremely hard with intensity, we just had untimely turnovers and they shot the heck out of the ball when they needed to.”

NIACC took advantage of some missed free throws by RCC to go up 84-78, but Wayne Canady drilled a baseline three to make it 84-81 and Bunch scored on a pair of drives to the hoop to make it a two-point game.

Bunch was an offensive force from the opening tip as he scored 10 points during a 15-2 Blue Devil rally in the first five minutes of the game. He put the home crowd on its feet when he hit a twisting turning shot over his head while being fouled in the lane to make it 7-2.

“Basketball is basketball at any level. You’ve just got to step up every game,” said Bunch, who played 37 minutes and 49 seconds. “I do what coach asks me to do. If he needs me to play 40 (minutes), I’ll play 40. I’m just trying to help my team out.”

RCC, which held a 47-33 rebounding advantage, was able to stay in the game despite playing without a player taller than 6-4. NIACC had three players that were 6-6 or taller.

NIACC 33 54 — 87

RCC 39 46 — 85

RCC scoring: Bunch, 40; Marcus Ratliff, 13; Wayne Canady, 10; Jeff Clark-Neal, 7; Taylor Morgan, 4; Andrew Kaiser, 2; field goals: 52 percent (34-for-65); three-pointers: 22 percent (4-for-18); free throws: 57 percent (13-for-23); rebounds: 47 (Clark-Neil, 9); turnovers: 24