Rio men cruise past Alice Lloyd

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Admittedly, Kaden Warner didn't have the best of days for the University of Grande in its win at West Virginia University-Tech on Saturday.
     The Cincinnati, Ohio freshman went 0-for-9 from the floor and failed to score for the first time in his collegiate career. Adding to the insult was a second half shoulder injury which further limited his effectiveness.
     But you never would've known it based on his outing against Alice Lloyd College on Tuesday night.
     Warner scored a game-high 19 points, including 15 via five three-point goals, to spark the RedStorm in an 82-61 victory over the Eagles in River States Conference men's action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, which won for an eight consecutive time and for the 21st time in its last 23 outings, improved to 22-5 overall and 15-1 against conference foes.
     Alice Lloyd slipped to 13-13 overall and 7-9 in the RSC with the loss.
     Warner scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half for the RedStorm, who jumped to an 8-1 lead out of the gate on their way to leading from start to finish.
     Senior Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) and freshman Trent Hundley (Mount Orab, OH) backed Warner with 12 points each and did most of their collective damage in the first half as Rio took a 41-32 lead at the intermission.
     Both Blevins and Hundley scored 10 of their points in the game's first 20 minutes.
     Warner hit three-pointers on each of Rio's first two possessions of the second half and sophomore Exauce Manissa (Point Noire, The Congo) tacked on a layup as the RedStorm's lead ballooned to 17 points, 49-32, with 18:32 left to play.
     Alice Lloyd twice closed the gap to 12 points over the course of the next three minutes, but failed to get any closer the rest of the way.
     Rio's largest lead of the night came with the game's final margin of victory.
     The RedStorm's winning effort also included 10 points from sophomore Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN), nine rebounds from junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and five assists from freshman Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH).
     Rio Grande shot 48 percent overall (30-for-62), including a 15-for-29 performance from three-point range (51.7%).
     The RedStorm also outrebounded their guests, 39-29, and committed just eight turnovers.
     Damon Tobler led Alice Lloyd with 16 points, while Ben Soumahoro added 15 points and Will Philpot finished with seven rebounds.
     Bryce Slone and Jacob Curry handed out three assists each in a losing cause.
     ALC had just seven turnovers of its own and shot just under 45 percent overall (25-for-56), but the Eagles went just 3-for-14 from three-point range (21.4%) and 8-for-17 at the foul line (47.1%).
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it entertains Carlow University for Senior Day and the regular season finale.
     Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.