February 12, 2010

RedStorm suffer heartbreaking loss at Lindsey Wilson

Columbia, KY --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss on Thursday night at Lindsey Wilson College by letting an 11-point lead slip away in the final nine minutes of the game, losing 75-74 in Mid-South Conference action.

Rio Grande (5-20, 0-9 MSC) battled early on in this game and the lead changed hands on numerous occasions. 

Lindsey Wilson (13-12, 4-5 MSC) made a run toward the latter part of the first half to seemingly gain control of the game. The Blue Raiders lead swelled to double figures late in the first half and they took an eight-point advantage (42-34) to the locker room. 

The RedStorm responded out of the gate in the second half and ripped off eight unanswered points to tie the game at 42-42. Both teams continued to share the lead until LWC hit a dry spell, going over five minutes without a basket. During the cold spell for the Blue Raiders, Rio surged ahead on the strength of a 10-0 run to take a 59-51 lead with 10 minutes to play. 

Senior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) would hit a three and nail two subsequent free throws as Lindsey Wilson's bench was hit with a technical foul and Rio's lead grew to 64-53 with nine minutes to play.

It was at that point that things started to unravel for the RedStorm. Rio made some crucial mistakes down the stretch that cost them. Despite the miscues, Rio was treading water and still managed to hold on to the lead until the final 14 seconds of the game, thanks in large part to missed free throws by the Blue Raiders.

LWC's Joshua Cherry was fouled with 3.8 seconds left and the score tied at 74-74 and he made one out of two at the stripe and Rio missed a desperation shot from half court as time expired, which gave Lindsey Wilson the victory. Lindsey made 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) attempts at the charity stripe in the game. 

The loss overshadowed a tremendous effort from sophomore forward Bud Teer (Cleveland, OH) who scored, a game-high, 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Rio Grande. Teer was 9-for-10 shooting from the floor and 7-for-7 at the free throw line.  Rase added 15 points (11 in the second half) and freshman forward Daniel Marti (Valencia, Spain) chipped in 12 points. Rase also dished out five assists.

Rio shot 50 percent (28-of-56) from the floor, but struggled from long range, connecting on only 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. 

Lindsey Wilson placed four players in double figures led Andrija Tintor with 24 points. Cornell Thomas added 15 points and six rebounds to the Blue Raider attack while Eric McPherson (12 points) and Cherry (10 points) also reached double figures in points. 

"I've been coaching since I was 19 years old, this is the toughest loss I've ever had in my life," said Rio Grande head coach Ken French. "Our guys battled, we wanted this, we wanted this game more than they did. We played hard, we laid it on the line and it didn't come down to one play."

"In the last two minutes (of a game), we haven't been in that situation before other than the Pikeville game and we lost our composure," French added. "We didn't execute the way we needed to down the stretch, but we battled. The game was there for us to win and I guess you've got to give Lindsey Wilson credit because they made the shots and hit the free throws there at the end."

Rio Grande returns home on Saturday to face NAIA No. 8 Cumberlands. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. following the women's game. Stretch Internet will have play-play coverage beginning at approximately 3:45 p.m. 

Saturday's match-up with the Tigers will mark the third meeting all-time between the two schools and each team has won a game. Campbellsville won the match-up earlier this season (January 23) at home by a score of 88-72. P.J. Rase and Bud Teer each scored 16 points to lead Rio Grande while Doug Campbell added 12. Nestor Colmenares paced the Tigers with 19 points and 10 rebounds. T.J. Bishop added 17 points while Caleb Harris (14 points) and JaVaughn Espritt (10 points) also scored in double figures .