RedStorm men rally, outlast IU East in overtime

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - It's an oft-used phrase in athletics to say that good teams "find a way" to emerge victorious.
     On Wednesday night, in the quarterfinal round of the River States Conference Men's Basketball Championship against Indiana University East, the University of Rio Grande found a way.
     The RedStorm rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to force overtime and then grabbed the lead for good inside the final minute of the extra session for an 85-81 win over the Red Wolves at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, the tournament's top seed from the East Division and the No. 1 seed overall, won for the 10th straight time and improved to 24-5 overall.
     The victory also sends head coach Ryan Arrowood's club to Saturday's semifinals for a re-match with West Division No. 2 seed IU Southeast, which handed Rio its only conference loss of the season.
     IU East, the West Division No. 4 seed, finished its season at 16-14 with a second loss to the RedStorm after winning each of the first 14 meetings in the all-time series.
     The Red Wolves appeared on their way toward avenging their Jan. 28 loss to the RedStorm, using a 12-0 first half run to transform a two-point deficit into a 23-13 lead with 6:04 remaining in the first half.
     Rio Grande managed to cut the deficit to four points by halftime, but East's Jamisen Smith scored the first six points of the second half and teammate Jake Johnson added a three-pointer of his own to give the visitors their largest lead of the night, 43-30, with 17:27 left to play.
     At that point, though, with a boisterous group of students cheering them on, the RedStorm started the road back.
     A thunderous dunk by senior Shiloah Blevins (South Webster, OH) started a 16-4 spurt, which culminated in an offensive rebound and stickback by junior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and cut the deficit to 47-46 with 11:10 remaining.
     IU East managed to maintain the lead, though, even extending to a 64-57 advantage after a three-pointer by Smith with 3:43 left to play.
     Rio answered with seven straight points to knot the score at 64-all after a jumper by Blevins with 1:59 showing on the clock, but the Red Wolves went right back in front on their ensuing possession when Colt Meyer connected on a three-pointer just 14 seconds later.
     East stretched its cushion to 70-66 after a conventional three-point play by Tavian Tatum with just 55.1 seconds remaining in regulation, but a layup by freshman Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) with 36.8 seconds left and jumper by Blevins with 9.6 seconds left following a turnover by the Wolves forged a 70-70 tie.
     IUE had a chance to win in the waning moments, but a three-pointer by Johnson somehow lipped out and Smith's putback try at the horn was off the mark to force the overtime.
     Tadic gave Rio Grande a 77-75 lead with 2:32 remaining in the extra period, but Smith tied the game again on the Wolves' next possession and a pair of free throws by Meyer put IUE back in front, 79-77, with 1:06 left to play.
     But Tadic drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 50.2 seconds left to put Rio back in front, 80-79.
     It was a lead the RedStorm didn't relinquish.
     Freshman Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) hit two free throws with 31.0 seconds left to extend the Rio lead to three, before Smith countered with two free throws of his own to make it a one-point game again with 22.9 seconds remaining.
     Freshman Trent Hundley (Mount Orab, OH) hit two more tries from the charity stripe with 19.4 seconds left to make it 84-81 and, after Meyer missed a runner in the lane, Blevins rebounded and hit one of two free throws with 10.7 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game and seal the win.
     Blevins led Rio with 21 points and nine rebounds, while Tadic finished with 18 points and Hundley tallied 18 points of his own to go along with a team-high three steals and career-high five blocked shots.
     Robertson also reached double figures for Rio with 14 points and also handed out six assists.
     Smith and Meyer netted 25 and 24 points, respectively, to lead IU East, while Johnson had 15 points and Kobe Ward had a game-high 17 rebounds.
     Rio Grande's semifinal game with IU Southeast is slated for a 4 p.m. tipoff.