Second half dry spell dooms RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Less than a minute into the second half of Saturday afternoon's meeting with the University of the Cumberlands, the University of Rio Grande looked well on its way to dealing the 19th-ranked Patriots their first loss of the season.
     But success, especially in the sport of basketball, can be a fleeting thing.
     After shooting 63 percent from the floor in the first half, the RedStorm nearly went bone dry for a 10-minute stretch in the second half and watched a double-digit lead become a double-digit deficit and an eventual 73-60 loss in non-conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Cumberlands pushed its record to 12-0 with the victory.
     Rio Grande, which remained among the teams receiving votes in the latest NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, dropped to 7-3 with the loss.
     The RedStorm and the Patriots, who once played each other on a regular basis when both were members of the Mid-South Conference, were meeting for the first time in more than eight years.
     Rio Grande started fast and trailed just once in the opening half, hitting 17 of their 27 field goal attempts in the period and finishing with a 40-29 advantage at the intermission.
     A jumper by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) just over a minute into the second half gave the RedStorm their biggest lead of the day and the cushion still stood at 12 points, 44-32, after a layup by senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) with 16:57 remaining in the contest, but that's when the wheels fell off the home team's wagon.
     Rio went 1-for-9 from the field and committed seven turnovers over the next 9-1/2 minutes as its 12-point lead transformed into a 10-point deficit, 56-46, following a conventional three-point play by Matt Cromer with 7:36 left in the game.
     The RedStorm closed the gap to eight points on four different occasions in the final seven minutes, but got no closer the rest of the way.
     The Patriots twice led by as many as 17 points in the final 2:25, including 73-56 after a layup by DJ Jones with 58.8 seconds remaining, while Rio scored consecutive buckets in the waning seconds to set the final score.
     Anthony Johnson led a quartet of double-digit scorers for UC with 18 points, while Jones netted 15, Cromer tossed in 12 and Brady Bell finished with 11.
     Tanner Walton yanked down a team-high seven rebounds for the Patriots, who shot 46.6 percent for the game (27-for-58) and finished with a 36-31 edge in rebounding.
     Rio Grande also shot 46 percent for the game (25-for-54), but hit just eight of its 27 second half attempts (29.6%) and its 12 turnovers led directly to 19 UC points.
     Hundley, who was coming off a career-best 21-point performance in last Saturday's win at Ohio Christian, led the RedStorm with a game-high 20 points.
     Sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) added 11 points and a game-high three assists, while sophomore Jay Moore (Beckley, WV) had a game-best eight rebounds and junior Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN) contributed a game-high three steals.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday night when it hosts Alice Lloyd College in River States Conference play.
     Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. or 20 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game, which is set for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.