RedStorm men officially punch ticket to NAIA tourney

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande finally got the opportunity to officially celebrate something it had captured one week earlier - a regular season conference championship and the automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament that came with it.
     The RedStorm started slow, but then kicked things into gear and rolled to an 88-46 Senior Day rout of Carlow University, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande improved to 23-5 overall and 16-1 in the RSC with the victory - one of the best regular season marks in school history - and got the opportunity to do some net-cutting after the contest, signifying its accomplishment of earning the top seed in the upcoming RSC Tournament and a second national tournament berth in three seasons.
     Actually, the RedStorm mathematically sewed up the honor last Saturday with its win at West Virginia University-Tech and a loss by West Division leader Indiana University Kokomo to Indiana University Southeast, but league officials refused to acknowledge the clinching by head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad publicly until after Saturday's conclusion of the regular season schedule.
     Rio will next host the survivor of Monday night's RSC first round tourney matchup between Indiana University East and WVU-Tech in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday, at 8 p.m., at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Saturday's loss was the 25th straight setback for Carlow, which finished its season at 1-27 overall and 0-17 in conference play.
     The game also marked the final men's basketball contest for the Celtics as a member of the River States Conference and the NAIA. The school will join the ranks of NCAA Division III next season.
     Saturday's game started nearly 20 minutes later than its scheduled time as a result of the post-game celebration by the Rio Grande women for clinching a league title in the day's opening contest and the RedStorm honoring five players - two in its developmental program and a trio of varsity athletes - in their own pre-game ceremonies.
     Perhaps the change in routine fostered a slow start, but Rio led just 13-12 after a bucket by Carlow's Byron Gaskins with 13:15 left in the first half.
     From that point on, though, it was all RedStorm all the time.
     Over the next 19 minutes of actual game time, Rio Grande went on a 54-17 run and took a 67-29 advantage after freshman Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) hit one of two free throw attempts with 14:13 left to play in the contest.
     The lead continued to grow and reached its largest spread of the day - 52 points - when a jumper by senior Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) made it 88-36 with 6:05 remaining.
     Carlow closed the game on a 10-0 run over the final six minutes to set the final score.
     Warner led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Rio Grande with 21 points, while Blevins added 20 of his own to go along with 11 rebounds. Warner was also one of four players to share game-high honors with four assists.
     Junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) tacked on 16 points to a game-best three steals and four assists, while freshman Trent Hundley (Mount Orab, OH) finished with 14 points and four assists of his own off the bench.
     Graduate senior Mike Cody (Cookeville, TN) also tied a season- and career-high with a game-best 12 rebounds for the RedStorm, while freshman Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) also had four assists and sophomore Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) blocked a pair of shots.
     Rio Grande hit just 13 of 44 three-point attempts (29.5%), but finished 33-for-77 overall (42.9%) and enjoyed a whopping 55-36 advantage in rebounding.
     The RedStorm also committed just seven turnovers.
     Carlow's season-long offensive woes continued with a 16-for-56 shooting performance overall (28.6%), including a 5-for-20 showing from beyond the three-point arc (25.0%).
     The Celtics also went just 9-for-18 at the foul line (50.0%) and committed 19 turnovers which led directly to 19 Rio points.
     Gaskins led Carlow with 11 points, two assists and two steals, while Jacob Mason yanked down seven rebounds.