RedStorm fall late at Ashland

Ashland, Oh. --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's basketball team was back on the floor after a near two-week hiatus and played well for 30 minutes, going toe-to-toe with NCAA Division II Ashland University in the Holiday Inn Express Classic on Monday evening at Kates Gymnasium. Ashland pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the game to win 94-78 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.

Rio Grande (5-8) played well early and stayed right with the Eagles taking a 41-39 lead to halftime on a basket from freshman forward Daniel Marti (Valencia, Spain) as time expired. Rio would get the lead to as high as five points twice in the second half at 44-39 and 55-50 and had Ashland teetering, but could not take control of the game.

The RedStorm had three players score in double figures led by senior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) with 24 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-4 from long range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Junior forward Wendell Bates, Jr. (Akron, OH) added 11 points and Marti tossed in 10 points. 

Ashland (4-5) proved to be hard to handle in the paint as Kale Richardson paced all scorers with 26 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. Evan Yates added 20 points as Ashland out-scored Rio 54-32 in the paint. The duo was able to get Rio in foul trouble and had their way all game long down low. 

Bylynn Hatcher added 19 points (17 in the second half). Darius Brents chipped in 11 points. 

It took a while for the Eagles to get control of the game as the lead changed hands 11 times and there were 14 ties in the game. 

Turnovers played a role in the loss for the RedStorm as they recorded 20 miscues for the game. Ashland manhandled Rio on the glass, out-rebounding them 42-25 including 16-6 on the offensive end. 

Ashland shot the ball well from the field, connecting on 33-of-62 (53.2 percent) attempts, but only 4-of-19 from three-point land. Rio countered with 48.3 percent (28-of-58) from the field, including 7-of-13 (53.8) from beyond the three-point arc. The RedStorm also hit 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity stripe while Ashland hit them when they had to, despite making only 64.9 percent (24-of-37) for the game. 

Ashland snapped a two-game losing skid and moved to 4-0 all-time versus Rio Grande. 

Rio Grande will tangle with former American Mideast Conference foe University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Stretch Internet will provide play-by-play coverage beginning at approximately 6:45 p.m. 

UNOH defeated Aquinas College 83-70 in the opening game on Monday.