January 24, 2010

RedStorm fall at Campbellsville

Campbellsville, Ky. --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's basketball team played hard and didn't quit, but it was not enough as they dropped an 88-72 decision to NAIA No. 14 Campbellsville University on Saturday afternoon on the road at the Powell Athletic Center. The loss keeps the RedStorm winless in the Mid-South Conference at 0-4.

Rio Grande (5-15, 0-4 MSC), unlike the three previous games, started slowly and never recovered. Campbellsville (15-5, 3-1 MSC) scored the game's first 11 points and accumulated leads of 24-5, 38-13 and 47-19 in the first half of play. The Tigers would take a 53-28 lead to halftime.

Campbellsville set out to put the game away in the second half and looked to be on the way to accomplishing that feat in surging ahead to a 32-point lead at 72-40. From that point on, Rio Grande out-scored Campbellsville 32-16 to make the score respectable at 88-72.

Sophomore forward Bud Teer (Cleveland, OH) showed no ill effects from an ankle injury that he sustained in the loss to St. Catharine on Thursday night. Teer, along with senior guard P.J. Rase, (Wheelersburg, OH) paced the RedStorm attack with 16 points. Both players were fantastic at the free throw line as the duo combined for 12-of-13 for the game. Rio continued its prowess at the charity stripe, making 20-of-23 (87 percent) for the game. 

Junior guard Doug Campbell (Salisbury, NC) also scored in double figures for Rio Grande as he notched 12 points. 

Campbellsville placed four players in double figures, led by Nestor Colmanares with 19 points and 10 rebounds. T.J. Bishop added 17 points while Caleb Harris tossed in 14 points and JaVaughn Espritt chipped in with 10. 

The Tigers had a big night from beyond the three-point arc, nailing 13 trifectas in 29 attempts (44.8 percent). 

Rio out-scored Campbellsville 44-35 in the second half. 

"Given the way we played on Thursday night and how I challenged the guys yesterday, this was what we talked about going into this game," said Rio Grande head coach Ken French. "This was going to be a character test for us and I thought early on we weren't ready for the physical play of the game."

"We were kind of caught on our heels a little bit," French added. "But, our true character showed in the second half because our guys stepped up, we played, it wasn't like Campbellsville called the dogs off. We fought and we made it respectable."

Rio Grande will return home Thursday night (January 28) to host NAIA No. 22 Pikeville College. Tip-off is set for approximately 8 p.m. following the women's game. Stretch Internet will provide play-by-play coverage beginning at 7:45 p.m.

Pikeville, along with Campbellsville and Georgetown College, is sitting atop the MSC with 3-1 records. The Bears overall enter Thursday's game with an overall mark of 15-2.