RedStorm men hold off WVU-Tech

Rio Grande Sports Information
     BECKLEY, W.Va. - The University of Rio Grande built a 15-point first half lead and then held on down the stretch to post a 79-75 win over West Virginia University-Tech, Tuesday night, in River States Conference men's basketball action at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
     The RedStorm improved to 6-1 overall with the win in what was the RSC opener for both teams.
     The Golden Bears, who along with Rio Grande was among the schools receiving votes in latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, suffered their first loss in five outings.
     Rio Grande connected on six of its first seven shots and bolted to a 12-4 lead inside the game's first five minutes.
     The RedStorm built - and maintained - a double-digit lead for much of the remainder of the half and took their largest lead of the night, 35-20, after a jumper by sophomore Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) with 6:33 remaining before halftime.
     The advantage reached 15 points again, 46-31, after a three-pointer by sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) with 27 seconds left before the intermission, but Tech countered with a trifecta of its own by Brant Smithers just before the buzzer to slice the deficit to 12 at the break.
     The buzzer-beater kickstarted a rally by the home team which carried into the second half and set up a nail-biting final 14 minutes.
     The Golden Bears twice sliced the deficit to just two points - 52-50, following a pair of Ashton Parker free throws with 14:19 left to play and 69-67 after Andrew Work hit one of two free throw attempts with 2:15 remaining - but the comeback effort got no closer the rest of the way.
     Consecutive buckets by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) - the second of which was a three-pointer - pushed the lead back to seven, 74-67, with 1:25 left and Rio led by no less than three points over the final 85 seconds.
     Robertson connected on one of two free throws with seven seconds left to make it a two-possession game and set the final score.
     The missed free throw was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect night authored by Robertson, who finished with a game-high 23 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers.
     Warner and Hundley finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) had a game- and season-high 13 rebounds. Hundley also tied senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) for team-high honors with two steals.
     Tadic also had five of the nine assists credited to the RedStorm, which shot 53.3 percent overall (32-for-60) and committed just seven turnovers.
     WVU-Tech shot 45 percent overall (24-for-53) and outscored Rio, 18-8, at the free throw line. The Golden Bears also enjoyed a 27-24 rebounding edge.
     Work shared game-high scoring honors and led the hosts with 23 points, while Smithers tossed in 21 of his own on seven three-pointers.
     Braden Chapman added 12 points, three assists and two steals for Tech, while Parker had 10 rebounds.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action next Tuesday when Point Park University visits the Newt Oliver Arena for another RSC matchup.
     Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.