Rio Grande Sports Information
    COLUMBIA, Ky. - Five different players contributed to a 10-0 first half run which helped break open a close game and propel No. 12 Lindsey Wilson to an 86-52 rout of the University of Rio Grande, Saturday afternoon, in Mid-South Conference men's basketball action at the Biggers Sports Center.    The game-changing run, which occurred over a span of 4-1/2 minutes, gave the Blue Raiders a commanding 20-6 lead and they never looked back. Chase Spreen, Wes Hanspard, Justin Archie, Josh White and Chase Cox all had two points each in the run.
    Lindsey Wilson, which ended a four-game losing streak, upped its overall record to 16-8 and its conference tally to 8-4.
    Rio Grande, which blew a nine-point lead with just under two minutes remaining in its first meeting with the Blue Raiders last month, fell to 12-14 and 3-9 with a second straight loss.
    "Let's be honest and call it for what it was - they outplayed us in every phase of the game," said Rio Grande head coach Ken French. "They executed, they hit shots, they played harder - everything I challenged our kids on, they didn't respond. It was very disappointing."
    Lindsey Wilson shot 58.1 percent from the field in the opening half, extending its lead to 20 points, 41-21, by the intermission.
    Rio Grande shot just 37 percent in the first half (10-for-27) and committed 11 turnovers.
    "We didn't do any of the things you have to do to win on the road - playing with passion, playing with toughness, playing as a team and defending. We just got our heads handed to us," French said. "We haven't played very well defensively the last couple game and the direct cause to a lot of that is our offense - our shot selection. We've taken some horrible shots that don't even give us an opportunity to defend, almost like a turnover, and those lead to fast breaks and some high percentage shots the other way. They shot 58 percent in the first half. I promise that there's nobody on our schedule that we can beat if we let them shoot 58 percent."
    The RedStorm got the first two points of the second half on a pair of free throws by senior forward Shaun Gunnell (Columbus, OH), but any hopes of a miraculous comeback were squashed by a 19-4 Lindsey Wilson run over the next 4-1/2 minutes which resulted in a 60-27 lead for the Blue Raiders with 13:54 remaining in the contest.
    Rio got no closer than 28 points the rest of the day and Lindsey's biggest lead of the game was 35 points, 82-47, after Kalen Kimberland hit one of two free throws after French was assessed a technical foul with 1:39 left in the game.
    "Obviously, we have to re-evaluate some things," French said. "We haven't played well on the road. We have them recite the gameplan - they know what we want to do. Our preparation, I think, is pretty good, but our application is horrible. We get down and then hit the panic button. We don't trust the system, we don't share the ball, we don't trust each other - when you play that way, you're in quicksand and the harder you try to get out of it the deeper you end up in it."
    Gunnell was Rio's only double-digit scorer, finishing with a game-high 18 points. The RedStorm finished 21-for-60 from the field (35%).
    Spreen and Cox led the Blue Raiders with 14 points each, while Archie and Charles Baker had 10 each. Archie also had eight assists and Baker finished with a game-high seven rebounds.
    Lindsey Wilson shot 54 percent overall (33-for-61) and 53 percent from three-point range (8-for-15).
    Rio Grande returns to action Thursday night, traveling to defending national champion Pikeville for a Mid-South Conference tilt at the East Kentucky Expo Center. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.