Rio men complete season sweep of Trailblazers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - It's unlikely that the Newt Oliver Arena will ever be confused with an amusement park, but that's exactly what it was to the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
     The RedStorm rode the equivalent of a day-long roller-coaster by building an 18-point first half lead, then watching its cushion cut to two on a pair of occasions in the second half before pulling away down the stretch for an 82-71 River States Conference triumph over Ohio Christian University.
     Rio, which was among the schools receiving votes in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, moved to 19-5 overall and 12-1 in league play with the victory.
     Ohio Christian, which suffered a sixth straight loss at the hands of the RedStorm, dropped to 9-13 overall and 5-8 in the RSC as a result of the loss.
     Rio parlayed a 15-3 run, culminating in a baseline jumper by sophomore Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN) with 7:45 left before the intermission, into a 32-14 lead before the Trailblazers twice sliced the deficit to four inside the final two minutes of the half.
     OCU continued to chip away after the break and pulled to within two on two occasions, including 48-46 after a Chris Richardson three-pointer with 13:57 remaining, but the RedStorm responded with a 19-8 run over the next six minutes - capped by a layup by graduate senior Mike Cody (Cookeville, TN) - which pushed the lead to 67-54 with 8:35 left to play.
     The Trailblazers twice closed the gap to seven inside the final four minutes, including 75-68 after a bucket by Titus Burns with 2:24 remaining, but Rio finished the contest with a 7-3 spurt to set the final score.
     Rio Grande placed four players in double figures and was led by junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands), who finished with a game- and season-high 24 points.
     Freshman Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) added 13 points - 10 of which came in the second half - and tied a career-high with five assists in the winning effort. His three first half points came on a buzzer-beating heave from midcourt.
     Cody and Smith tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Cody also had eight rebounds and freshman Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) had four steals.
     The RedStorm finished 29-for-63 overall (46.0%) and 10-for-23 from three-point range (43.5%), while also going 14-for-15 at the foul line (93.3%).
     Ohio Christian connected at a 41.9 percent rate from the floor overall (26-for-62), while going 7-for-23 from distance (30.4%) and 12-for-13 at the foul line (92.3%).
     The Trailblazers were also outrebounded, 38-33.
     Burns had 19 points to lead OCU, while Richardson had 12 points and eight rebounds.
     Devon Miller netted 11 points in the loss, while Jimmy Salamone totaled 10 points, six assists and four steals.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night when Point Park University visits for 7:30 p.m. tipoff.