January 12, 2010

Rio hoops to host first ever MSC Games

Rio Grande --- Thursday night will start a new chapter in Rio Grande basketball as both men's and women's hoops teams will play their first ever Mid-South Conference games. Rio Grande will host Lindsey Wilson at the Newt Oliver Arena with the women beginning the night at 6 p.m.

The games will also mark the first time in school history that an athletic event will be televised live by Wazoo Sports Network. Wazoo Sports is a regional sports network located out of London, Ky. Wazoo broadcasts numerous live sporting events throughout the Bluegrass State, including the Mid-South Conference. 

RedStorm head men's basketball coach Ken French is excited to embark on this new era in Rio Grande basketball. "This might be the biggest basketball game of my coaching career here at Rio Grande so far, because it opens up a whole new era," French said. "Thursday night is going to be a great, great night."

"I hope it's going to be a great atmosphere," he added. "It's going to be a great start of what is going to be Rio Grande basketball in the future."

French also sees the television exposure as a great opportunity to showcase Rio Grande. "It's a great opportunity for us, it can help, not only men's and women's basketball, it can help anybody, because you're going to see what type of atmosphere that we can have in our building," French said. "Our facilities will be showcased and hopefully both teams will play well and they'll both be well played games on our part and Lindsey Wilson's part and it showcases our conference."

Lindsey Wilson (9-7) comes into the game having won two games in a row and three of the last four. The Blue Raiders knocked off Marygrove in their most recent outing, 93-59 on Saturday. Eric McPherson led the way for Lindsey Wilson with 17 points and nine rebounds. 

This is the fourth meeting ever between the two schools and LWC has won all three previous meetings.

The Blue Raiders are led in scoring by the trio of McPherson (15.9 PPG), Andrija Tintor (10.7 PPG) and Kalen Kimberland (10.4 PPG.).

Lindsey Wilson was picked to finish 4th in the pre-season coaches poll behind Pikeville College, University of Cumberlands and Georgetown College. LWC did pick up one first place vote.   

Rio Grande (5-11) is looking to put an end to a four-game losing streak. The RedStorm dropped their most recent game at NAIA No. 1 Mountain State on Saturday, 122-85. Junior guard Doug Campbell (Sailsbury, NC) led Rio Grande in scoring with 18 points. Sophomore forward Bud Teer (Cleveland, OH) notched his 10th double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Senior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) recorded his 1,000th career point in the 70-69 loss at Brescia, January 6th. Rase comes into play tonight ranked No. 2 in the NAIA in Free Throw Percentage (.918).  Rio as a team is No. 1 in FT PCT in the NAIA (.763). Rase leads the team in scoring at 17.5 PPG.

The men will tip-off at approximately 8 p.m.

On the women's side, Rio Grande (9-7) comes into the game off a disappointing 65-48 loss at NCAA Division II Urbana last Thursday night. The RedStorm struggled shooting the ball making only 15-of-60 (25 percent) from the field for the game. Junior guard Jenna Smith (Bellefontaine, OH) paced the RedStorm with 19 points.

Junior forward Leah Kendro (Strongsville, OH) ranks No. 2 in NAIA Division I in Free Throw Percentage (.958). Kendro leads the RedStorm in scoring at 15.8 per game. Smith also averages in double figures at 13.4 PPG. 

This is the second meeting ever between the two schools. LWC won the only prior match-up.

Rio was picked to finish 6th in the MSC pre-season coaches poll.

RedStorm head women's coach David Smalley knows this will be a big game for his program. "We're going to have to be on our ‘A' game," Smalley said. "Lindsey is one of the premier teams in the conference, but the good thing is, we're home and let's take advantage of that, let's be confident, let's hope that that home court advantage is going to be enough." 

Lindsey Wilson (10-4) comes into MSC opener having won three of its last four games, including the most recent game Saturday versus Olivet Nazarene in which the Blue Raiders scored a 98-64 win. Viktoria Krell had a monster game scoring 23 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. She was one of four players to score in double figures.

The Blue Raiders were picked to finish 3rd in the MSC pre-season coaches poll behind the University of Cumberlands and Campbellsville, garnering one first place vote.

The game will be sponsored by Bob Evans.