March 1, 2010

RedStorm to face MSC champ in conference quarters

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men's basketball team will match up with regular season Mid-South Conference Champion and top seed Campbellsville in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 MSC Tournament on Friday (March 5) at the Frankfort (KY) Convention Center. 

Rio Grande (5-25, 0-14 MSC) is the No. 8 seed in the tournament. Campbellsville (24-6, 12-2 in the MSC) won both regular season meetings. The Tigers triumphed 88-72 at home, January 23 and 76-45 at the Newt Oliver Arena, February 13. The two teams open Friday's quarterfinals at 10 a.m. EST. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at 9:45 a.m. 

Campbellsville clinched its first regular season title on Saturday with a win at West Virginia Tech. 

The Campbellsville/Rio Grande winner meets the winner of St. Catharine and Pikeville at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday. 

Rio Grande comes into the tournament as the MSC's and the NAIA's top free-throw shooting team at 77.5 percent. Senior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) is the top free throw shooter in the MSC and the NAIA at 94.5 percent (103-of-109). He leads Rio in scoring at 16.6 points per game and is one of the top perimeter players in the country. Rase has made 92 three-pointers on the season and is shooting 43.4 percent from long range. 

Rase also returns to the venue where he had his best ever game. He netted 34 points and a established a new school record for made three-pointers in a single game with 10 in a 95-51 victory over Virginia Intermont, November 27 at the Frankfort Convention Center. 

In addition to Rase, the RedStorm have junior guard Doug Campbell (Salisbury, NC), who averages 11 points per contest. 

Rio is scoring 75.1 points per game while yielding 86.2. Campbellsville is scoring 73.7 points per game and allowing the opposition to score at a 61.9 clip. 

The Tigers are a balanced team with good perimeter play and arguably the best post player in the league in Nestor Colmanares. Colmenares leads the Tigers in both scoring and rebounding at 15.0 points and 9.6 rebounds respectively. Backcourt mates Caleb Harris (11.1 ppg.) and T.J. Bishop (10.7 ppg.) also average double figures for Campbellsville. 

Rio Grande head coach Ken French knows his team has a formidable task, but says his team is ready for the challenge. "Everybody starts back over, everybody is 0-0 and we've got the best shooter in the country (Rase), so we'll see what happens," French said. "I know we're going to play hard and if we defend and rebound, Cinderella stories are made when teams shoot the ball and we can shoot the ball." 

"It just comes down to whether we're going to be able to defend and rebound and stay out of foul trouble," French added. 

French also knows his team best played some of its best basketball of the season at the tournament site earlier this year. "We played well there," he said. "We went 1-1, but Campbellsville is one of the best teams in the country. It's not like we won't have our hands full, we've just got to come out and play well, play with a lot of energy and see what happens." 

"We're going to have to play an extremely good game, but we don't have anything to lose," French said. "There's no pressure, just go out and play and let it fly." 

No. 2 seed Georgetown College (23-6, 11-3) faces No. 7 seed West Virginia Tech (13-16, 3-11) in Friday's finale at 8 p.m. EST. The Tigers won both meetings this season against WVU Tech.

University of the Cumberlands (20-9, 9-5) is the tournament's third seed and will face No. 6 seed Lindsey Wilson College (14-16, 5-9) at 6 p.m. EST. The two teams split their two regular season meetings with each team winning at home.

No. 4 seed St. Catharine College (20-10, 8-6) and No. 5 seed Pikeville College (21-8, 8-6) play at Noon EST. The two teams split during the regular season.

Friday's winners advance to Saturday's semifinals. The Georgetown and West Virginia Tech winner will play the winner of Cumberlands and Lindsey Wilson at 4 p.m. opposite the winner of Rio/Campbellsville and St. Catharine/Pikeville. 

The championship game is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 7.