Rio men rally past Ohio Christian in RSC opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio - University of Rio Grande men's basketball head coach Ryan Arrowood will be the first to admit that, given his team's physical shape and the fact that the Thanksgiving holiday has yet to arrive, he would have been happy with a delayed start to conference play.
     But, as the old saying goes, "time doesn't wait for anyone".
     Fortunately, though, Arrowood's squad was able to survive thanks to a balanced attack and a gritty comeback effort.
     Fifth-year senior Mike Cody scored a career-high 19 points off the bench to lead five double-digit scorers and the RedStorm overcame an eight-point first half deficit to defeat Ohio Christian University, 80-73, Saturday afternoon, in the RSC opener for both schools at The Maxwell Center.
     Rio improved to 4-3 with a third straight victory.
     The Trailblazers dropped to 2-4 with a second consecutive loss.
     OCU enjoyed the lead for most of the first half, including 22-14 after a three-pointer by Casius Bell, Jr. with 10:32 before halftime.
     But the RedStorm began to methodically chip away at the deficit with Cody - a native of Cookeville, Tenn. and a transfer from Bryan College - and fellow sub, sophomore Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) leading the way.
     Cody had 13 of his team-high point total and House scored all of his eight points before the intermission, helping Rio to forge a 40-all deadlock at the break.
     The Trailblazers did, however, manage to regain a four-point advantage on five separate occasions within the first 7-1/2 minutes of the second half, including 56-52 after a jumper by Devon Miller with 12:26 left to play in the game, but that's when the RedStorm countered with their largest offensive attack of the afternoon.
     Over the next five minutes, Rio Grande - which played a second straight contest without the services of injured regular Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN), while also essentially missing flu-ridden freshman reserve Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) - reeled off 16 of the next 20 points and grabbed what proved to be its largest lead of the day, 68-60, after a jumper by freshman Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) with 7:18 remaining.
     Ohio Christian twice closed the gap to three, including 74-71 thanks to a three-pointer by Jimmy Salamone with 2:27 left, but couldn't get any closer.
     Cody, who added his final three buckets in the second half, finished 9-for-12 from the floor overall and was also credited with a team-high two steals.
     Senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) backed Cody with 15 points, a game-high eight assists and six rebounds, while Warner finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
     Freshman Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) and senior Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Both also had six rebounds in the winning effort.
     Junior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) had a team-best eight rebounds for Rio, which finished with a commanding 42-29 edge in the category.
     The RedStorm also finished 32-for-70 overall (45.7%) and 10-for-20 from three-point range (50.0%), while committing just nine turnovers.
     Ohio Christian had just seven turnovers itself - less than half of its per game average entering the game - while shooting 44 percent overall (26-for-59) and going 14-for-20 (70.0%) at the free throw line.
     Salamone finished with a game-high 23 points in a losing cause, while Christopher Richardson tossed in 14 and Miller totaled 12 to go along with a game-high 11 carems, three steals and three blocked shots.
     Bell had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Trailblazers and Kaleb Smith handed out a team-high five assists.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action next Saturday when it hosts Miami University-Hamilton for a 3 p.m. tipoff at the Newt Oliver Arena.