Second half surge lifts RedStorm over WVU Tech

Rio Grande Sports Information
     BECKLEY, W.Va. - Prior to the start of the 2022-23 season, River States Conference basketball coaches agreed to adopt a new point system designed to overcome the inequities sometimes produced by an unbalanced league schedule in determining a regular season champion and seeding the league's post-season tournament.
     And while a degree in analytics - or a friendly neighborhood Einstein waiting in the shadows - might be needed to officially decipher the numbers, it's safe to say that the University of Rio Grande men's team took a giant leap toward earning a No. 1 seed to said tourney with its latest victory.
     The RedStorm shook off a sluggish first half performance which, in turn, resulted in a six-point halftime deficit and posted a 68-60 come-from-behind victory over West Virginia University-Tech, Saturday afternoon, at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
     Rio Grande won for a seventh consecutive time, pushing its record to 21-5 overall and 14-1 in league play and leaving head coach Ryan Arrowood's club three games clear of Point Park University in the East Division standings with just two conference games left to play.
     An upset loss to Indiana University Southeast on Saturday by Indiana University Kokomo also means the RedStorm now have a two-game advantage in the loss column against the RSC West Division-leading Cougars - whom they defeated head-to-head in their lone regular season meeting - as well.
     Given those perameters, one might think that Rio Grande would have secured the regular season championship - and the NAIA National Tournament berth that comes with it - regardless of what it does at home against Alice Lloyd College on Tuesday night or at home against Carlow University next Saturday.
     But, with a system where teams accrue different amounts of points for wins depending on where games are played and the records of the participating teams, league officials weren't ready to affix a crown to the RedStorm's collective head just yet.
     In fact, RSC officials have indicated that no final determination will be announced until after the regular season concludes next Saturday.
     Regardless, after the opening 20 minutes of Saturday's game against Tech (12-13, 7-8 RSC), it didn't appear as if any post-game celebration - premature or otherwise - would be warranted.
     The RedStorm shot just 25.9 percent overall in a defensive slugfest and trailed the Golden Bears, 25-19, at halftime.
     The second half, though, produced a robust comeback effort fueled, primarily, by a pair of newcomers and one veteran.
     Freshman Trent Hundley (Mount Orab, OH) scored 16 of his career-high 20 points after the intermission, while fellow frosh Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) netted all but two of his career-best 15 points after the break.
     Senior Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) added 17 points to the winning effort, including 12 in the second half.
     WVU-Tech actually scored the first points of the second half to take its largest lead of the day, 27-19, following a layup by Andrew Work with 19:10 left to play.
     But Rio started the road back with an 11-3 run over the next four minutes and tied the game at 30-all on a jumper by Robertson with 15:22 remaining.
     After two more ties - at 32 and 34 - the RedStorm grabbed the lead for good on a three-pointer by junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) to make it 37-34 with 12:20 left. Ironically, they were the only points scored in the contest by Tadic, the team's second-leading scorer entering the game.
     The trifecta by Tadic kickstarted a 13-5 run by Rio, which was capped by a pair of free throws by Hundley with 7:39 remaining and pushing the cushion to 50-39.
     The Golden Bears failed to get any closer than the eight-point deficit at the end and the RedStorm led by as many as 13 points, 63-50, after Robertson hit one of two free throw tries with 37.5 seconds left to play.
     Rio Grande, which also got a solid eight-point, eight-rebound effort off the bench by sophomore Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN), connected on 58 percent of its shots in the second half (14-for-24), including a 6-for-8 showing (75.0%) from beyond the three-point arc.
     The RedStorm finished the game at 21-for-51 overall (41.2%) and committed just eight turnovers.
     WVU-Tech, which fell for the fifth time in six outings, shot just under 43 percent (21-for-49), but was only 12-for-19 (63.2%) at the foul line.
     Work led the Golden Bears with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Brant Smithers netted 11 points and Ashton Parker finished with six rebounds of his own and a game-high three blocked shots.
     The loss was also for the first for Tech at home to Rio since moving from Montgomery, W.Va. to Beckley.
     The RedStorm's game against Alice Lloyd on Tuesday night is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.