By Jeff Douglas\Associated Press Writer

Published: Thursday, February 23, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 23, 2006 11:06 AM CST

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Gene Bess made college basketball history Wednesday night, becoming the first college basketball coach ever to win 1,000 games when Three Rivers Community College beat Forest Park 77-60.

Bess has never had a losing season in his 36 years of coaching at the Poplar Bluff school.

He came up short of the 1,000-win milestone Saturday, when Three Rivers lost to rival Mineral Area. But Bess' son and assistant coach, Brian Bess, said before the game he expected his father to reach the mark against Forest Park, which Three Rivers beat by 48 earlier in the season.

The community of Poplar Bluff expected the win, too. Two chartered busloads of fans made the nearly three-hour trip to St. Louis, including 81-year-old Frank Tinsley, who said he never misses a game.

“You know why I'm here,” the retired railroad worker said. “Coach Bess is hard to beat. He's a good man and he's worked hard to get this far.”

Commemorative 1,000th win T-shirts already were being passed out in the final seconds of the game, with Three Rivers leading by 20. The shirt chronicled Bess' wins, starting with the first in November 1970.

“This has never happened to anyone before, so I get satisfaction knowing that and so do a lot of other people,” Bess said. “This victory sure has been building up. I'll need some time to settle down from the excitement.”

Basketball has certainly excited Poplar Bluff in recent years. Tyler Hansbrough led his high school team to consecutive state titles before becoming a standout freshman for No. 21 North Carolina this season.

Bess coached Hansbrough as a youngster at summer clinics.

Latrell Sprewell learned his fundamentals from Bess at Three Rivers in the early 1990s before the NBA.

Jermaine Dailey and Keith Burton led Three Rivers with 16 points Wednesday night. The Raiders (21-7, 4-4) kept at least a 10-point lead throughout the second half, and never trailed in the game.

Burton said getting Bess his 1,000th win was on his mind during the game, especially at halftime when the Raiders only led 28-24.

“We knew they wouldn't just lay down and make Coach's 1,000th win easy,” Burton said.

The 70-year-old Bess' lifetime 1,000-258 record is unmatched by any college coach at any level. Former North Carolina coach Dean Smith's 879 career wins are the most by an NCAA Division I coach.

Harry Statham at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill., near St. Louis, is the all-time winningest coach at any four-year college or university, collecting 912 wins so far in his 40 years of coaching.

Bess has built a junior college dynasty in southeast Missouri with 17 regional titles, 13 trips to the national tournament, and national championships in 1979 and 1992.

Three Rivers will celebrate the achievement Saturday at its final regular-season game, when the court will be named in Bess' honor.