Point Park upends Rio men, 65-62

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Point Park University's combo of Jalen Stamps and Jo Valrie - as they do more often than not - proved to be lethal 1-2 punch.
     Stamps provided more than enough postage with a game- and season-high 30 points, while Valrie showed he's a well-above average Jo with 21 points and 16 rebounds in the Pioneers' hard-fought 65-62 win over the University of Rio Grande, Tuesday night, in River States Conference men's basketball play at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The Pioneers improved to 8-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play with the victory, while also snapping a four-game losing slide to Rio Grande in the process.
     The RedStorm, who were among the teams receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, dropped to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the RSC with the loss.
     Rio Grande hit just four of its first 19 field goal attempts and trailed by as many as nine points with just over nine minutes to play in the first half before mounting a methodical comeback effort.
     The RedStorm closed the gap to six points, 31-25, by halftime and continued to surge in the second half, eventually claiming a 41-40 lead - their first advantage since 2-0 just 17 seconds into the game - following a jumper by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) with 11:32 left to play.
     Senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) drained a three-pointer on Rio's ensuing possession to give head coach Ryan Arrowood's club what proved to be its largest lead of the night, 44-40, with 10:50 remaining.
     Three ties and three lead changes followed over the next 8-1/2 minutes, but the RedStorm still held a 58-55 edge after a bucket by Tadic with 2:12 left in regulation.
     It was then that Valrie went about extinguishing Rio's hopes of hanging on down the stretch.
     Valrie drilled a game-tying three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:43 showing on the clock and then put the Pioneers in front to stay by hitting a pair of free throw attempts 32 seconds later.
     Valrie's tying and go-ahead points accounted for half of Point Park's game-ending 10-4 run.
     Jordan Stowe hit both ends of a one-and-bonus situation with 15.1 seconds remaining - his only points of the night - to push the lead to 62-58 and make it a two-possession game before Rio sophomore Kaden Warner (Cincinnati, OH) cut the deficit in half on a layup with 9.3 seconds left.
     Stamps made it a two-possession again by connecting on both ends of his own one-and-bonus free throw with 8.1 seconds remaining, while Warner countered with another layup with 2.0 seconds left to make it 64-62.
     Valrie, who scored 14 of his points after halftime and who finished 10-for-12 at the foul line, hit one of two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to give PPU a three-point lead, but Rio Grande was unable to get off a would-be, game-tying desperation three-point heave before time expired.
     Point Park shot just 29 percent in the second half (9-for-31) and 33.8 percent for the game (22-for-65), but was 16-for-18 from the free throw line (88.9%) and committed just four turnovers.
     The Pioneers went 13-for-14 at the charity stripe in the second half, including 7-for-8 in the final 71 seconds.
     Rio Grande shot 38 percent for the game (26-for-68) after hitting just 28 percent of its shots in the first half.
     The RedStorm had just six turnovers of their own and were outrebounding PPU - the nation's top team in both rebounds and rebound margin - until the final two minutes. The Pioneers finished with a 44-42 advantage on the glass.
     Warner led Rio with 22 points, while sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) had 10 points and senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) snared a team-best nine rebounds.
     Rio Grande will jump back into action on Saturday afternoon when it visits Ohio Christian University for another RSC matchup.
     Tipoff is set for approximately 3 p.m. at the Maxwell Center in Circleville.