January 30, 2010

RedStorm men fall to Cumberlands

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's basketball team went into Saturday afternoon's game versus the University of Cumberlands searching for a way to end a nine-game losing streak and capture their first Mid-South Conference victory. When the final buzzer had sounded they had not accomplished either, falling to the visitors 79-63 at the Newt Oliver Arena. 

Rio Grande (5-17, 0-6 MSC) scored the first five points of the game but could not overcome the physicality of Cumberlands as the Patriots powered their way to victory.

Cumberlands (14-7, 3-3 MSC), who received one vote in the most recent NAIA Division I Top 25 rating, would get the lead to as high as 17 points in the first half on six different occasions and would take a 43-28 lead to halftime.

Rio Grande battled back to within nine points (46-37) in the second half after a 9-1 run, but could not manage to get any closer than that. 

The RedStorm were led by sophomore post man Bud Teer (Cleveland, OH) with 16 points (12 in the second half). He also pulled down five rebounds. Teer was the only Rio player to score in double figures. Freshman guard Tony Harris (Cincinnati, OH) nearly reached double figures with nine points and senior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) was held in check, scoring only eight points on 2-of-10 shooting. 

Cumberlands used a balanced attack led by Brandon Russ with 18 points (14 in the second half). Chad Byron and Benard Cherry each added 11 points and point guard Nathaniel Mitchell scored nine points, dished out four assists and had five steals. 

Rio Grande head coach Ken French summed up the game in one sentence. "The game was too physical for us, that's the bottom line."

French said that Cumberlands was able set the pace of the game. "They dictated the style of play," he said. "They were allowed to be physical with our wings and we kind of backed down a little bit in the first half."

"In the second half we got going a little bit and cut it to nine and then they stretch out again because we had to sub, because we had guys out there who played a lot of minutes and then we turn it over three straight times," French added. "We're taking too many possessions off and we're not ready for the physical play at the beginning of the game."

"We respond to it and we come back, but at the start of the game we're not ready for the physical play and they let you play in this league and we're getting manhandled," French said. 

Next up for the RedStorm: a road trip to Georgetown, KY to square off with the Georgetown College Tigers, who are ranked 18^th in the most recent NAIA Division I Top 25 poll. The Tigers were the pre-season pick to win the MSC. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. 

Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at approximately 7:45 p.m. following the women's game.