Rio clobbers Cougars in home opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande's Halloween night home opener provided more in the way of treats than it did tricks.
     The RedStorm built a 25-point halftime lead and then continued to pull away in the second half for an eventual 115-69 win over Ohio University-Lancaster, Tuesday night, in non-conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande pushed its record to 2-0 and remained perfect in 16 all-time meetings with the Cougars.
     OU-L was playing its season opener.
     The Cougars grabbed a 2-0 lead just 36 seconds into the contest on a pair of free throws by Jared Ison, but Rio countered with a game-tying jumper by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) on its ensuing possession and went in front to stay 40 seconds later on a layup by senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH).
     The RedStorm methodically extended the advantage to 25 points, 52-27, by halftime and continued to do the same over the final 20 minutes.
     Head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad twice led by as many as 49 points inside the final 2-1/2 minutes of the contest for its largest advantage of the night, including 115-66 after the second of two three-pointers by junior Abdoulaye Diallo (Harlem, N.Y.) with 39 seconds left to play.
     All but two of the 12 players in uniform for Rio got into the scoring column and five reached double figures.
     Senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) finished with a team-high 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, while sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) tallied 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
     Junior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) and sophomore Greg Stewart (Cincinnati, OH) established new career-highs with 16 and 14 points, respectively, while Hundley had 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
     The RedStorm finished 46-for-88 from the floor overall (52.3%), while going 13-for-40 from three-point range (32.5%) and 10-for-11 at the foul line (90.9%).
     Rio's second half offensive numbers were particularly impressive, shooting 59 percent overall (23-for-39), 50 percent from distance (11-for-22) and going a perfect 6-for-6 at the charity stripe.
     The RedStorm also outrebounded their guests, 55-26, and committed just four turnovers.
     OU-Lancaster shot just under 38 percent overall (23-for-61), but was 10-for-21 from three-point range (47.6%) and 13-for-16 at the foul line (81.3%).
     Kevian Poindexter led the Cougars with a game-high 24 points - 18 of which came via a half-dozen three-pointers - and also had a team-high two assists.
     Jayden Akers and Andrew Miles tossed in 15 and 11 points, respectively, while J. Roundtree totaled a team-high nine rebounds. Miles also blocked a pair of shots.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday afternoon when it hosts Wilmington College.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.