Cougars extend woes for RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     KOKOMO, Ind. - The close of calendar year 2023 proved to be rough for the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team.
     The start to calendar year 2024 turned out to be very similar.
     Indiana University Kokomo connected on 11 of its first 15 shots en route to a 19-point first half lead and the Cougars went on to post a 67-58 win over the RedStorm in River States Conference action, Wednesday night, at the Student Activities and Events Center.
     IUK won for a fourth consecutive time, improving to 12-2 overall and 2-2 in the RSC with the victory.
     Rio Grande suffered a sixth straight setback and fell to 7-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play.
     The loss also gives the RedStorm its longest losing streak since dropping seven straight outings between Dec. 19, 2018 and Jan. 15, 2019.
     While Kokomo got off to its blistering start - five of the host Cougars first 11 buckets came from beyond the three-point arc - Rio Grande was as cold as the January night air.
     The RedStorm hit just four of their first 17 shots and the end result was a 33-14 deficit after a three-pointer by IUK's Evan Kretz with 5:11 left before halftime.
     Rio closed the gap to 12 points at the break, 40-28, but the Cougars built their cushion back to 16 points in the second half when a layup by Max Newman with 9:08 remaining made it 53-37.
     The RedStorm, as they have done throughout the course of their losing slide, refused to go away quietly and twice sliced the deficit to seven points in the game's final 2:40 - the last of which came at 63-56 when sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) hit one of two free throw attempts with 2:01 left to play.
     Unfortunately, the comeback attempt got no closer.
     Rio missed its only field goal try and was 2-for-4 at the foul line over the final 84 seconds, while the Cougars went 4-for-6 at the charity stripe in their final three possessions to secure the win.
     Noah Harris netted a game-high 20 points to pace IU Kokomo, while Newman finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
     Dell DeMeyers added three assists and two steals in the winning effort for the Cougars, who went just 11-for-35 from the floor after their hot start in finishing at 44 percent (22-for-50).
     Rio Grande finished 21-for-55 overall (38.2%), but was just 7-for-28 from distance (25%) and 9-for-17 at the foul line (52.9%) in addition to being outrebounded, 36-33.
     Sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) led the RedStorm with 18 points and four assists, while Hundley added 10 points and two steals.
     Senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) had a team-best eight rebounds in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Saturday when it hosts RSC West Division leader St. Mary-of-the-Woods College for a 3 p.m. tipoff at the Newt Oliver Arena.