Warriors deal RedStorm fourth straight setback

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Indiana Tech's Brady Titus scored a career-high 22 points and the Warriors led from start to finish in a 77-53 win over the University of Rio Grande, Wednesday evening, in non-conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Indiana Tech (7-5), last season's NAIA national runner-up, won for a third straight time and the seventh time in its last eight outings.
     The Warriors also remained perfect in three all-time meetings with Rio Grande.
     The RedStorm slipped to 7-6 with a fourth straight loss - its first losing streak of more than three games since dropping four consecutive games from Jan. 30-Feb. 11, 2020.
     Titus scored the first seven points of the game for Indiana Tech, which jumped to a 9-3 less than four minutes into the contest. The sophomore guard, who averaged 9.5 points per game entering the contest, finished with 11 points in each half.
     The Warriors led by 13 points late in the first half and by 11 at halftime, 34-23, while continuing to pull away over the final 20 minutes.
     Rio Grande did close the gap to seven on two occasions inside the first 2-1/2 minutes of the second half, but got no closer the rest of the way.
     Indiana Tech's largest lead of the day was 25 points, 75-50, with just over a minute to play in the contest.
     Rio Grande shot a season-low 29 percent overall (18-for-62) and finished just 9-for-39 from three-point range (23.1%).
     The RedStorm also found themselves on the short end of a 45-31 rebounding deficit and were outscored in the paint, 42-12.
     Sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) led Rio, which had just five players score, with 16 points and sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) added 13 points, five assists and two steals.
     Senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) added a team-high seven rebounds in a losing cause and junior Exauce Manissa (Brazzaville, The Congo) blocked a pair of shots.
     Dallas Roberts and Steve Helm backed Titus' game-high effort with 13 and 10 points, respectively, for Indiana Tech, while Javel Lewis yanked down a game-best and career-high 13 rebounds.
     Titus and Lucas Lyyski had three assists each for the Warriors, who shot 52.5 percent overall (32-for-61) and 50 percent from three-point range (7-for-14).
     Rio Grande will resume its schedule on Saturday, Dec. 30, when it travels to Indianapolis, Ind. to face Marian University.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.