Blevins helps Rio men bounce Bruins

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Shiloah Blevins scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, helping the University of Rio Grande roll past Carolina University, 97-67, in the opening round of the 40th Annual Bevo Francis Classic, Friday night, at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The senior forward from South Webster, Ohio connected on 13 of his 21 field goal attempts and finished 3-for-3 at the free throw line.
     Rio Grande snapped a brief two-game losing slide and improved to 2-3 with the victory.
     Carolina, a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) located in Winston-Salem, N.C., slipped to 1-2 with a second consecutive loss.
     The Bruins never enjoyed a lead, but trailed just 9-7 after a three-pointer by Micah Cooper with 16:38 left in the first half.
     Rio Grande responded with a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to open up a 14-point lead and never looked back.
     The RedStorm's lead settled at 17 points by halftime, 45-28, and Carolina got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
     The last of the 13-point deficits came at 68-55 after another three-pointer by Cooper with just over 10 minutes remaining, but Rio put the game on ice with a 19-3 run - with 14 points in the spurt scored by Blevins - over the course of the next six minutes.
     The RedStorm's largest lead of the night was 32 points, 95-63, after a three-pointer by freshman Aiden Porter (Proctorville, OH) with 1:47 remaining in the game.
     In addition to Blevins, Rio had three other double-digit scorers.
     Junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) tossed in 16 points, while freshmen Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) and Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) netted 12 points each.
Warner added a game-high nine assists in the winning effort, while junior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) had eight rebounds.
     The RedStorm finished 39-for-76 overall (51.3%), including 14 three-pointers, and tallied 30 assists as a team.
     Rio also enjoyed a 45-30 rebounding advantage.
     Cooper led the Bruins with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and five steals, while Luka Suster tossed in 10 points.
     Carolina finished 23-for-53 from the floor (43.4%), including a 9-for-19 showing from three-point range, but went just 12-for-22 (54.5%) at the free throw line.
     Both teams will conclude play in the Classic on Saturday.
     Carolina faces Indiana University Kokomo at 1 p.m., while Rio Grande will tangle with Washington Adventist at 7 p.m.
     Adventist defeated IU Kokomo, 71-66, in Friday's other men's division contest.