Late run helps SMWC hold off RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Shon Tupuola, the 6-foot-9 center for St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, managed just four points and eight rebounds in Saturday afternoon's matchup with the University of Rio Grande.
     But the freshman standout - who finished well below his season averages of just over 10 points and just under 12 rebounds per game - provided the Pomeroys with, arguably, their biggest buckets of the day.
     Tupuola scored on consecutive possessions inside the final two minutes to kickstart a game-ending 10-2 run which preserved his team's 62-52 win over the RedStorm in River States Conference action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     SMWC, which was picked last in the RSC West Division preseason coaches' poll, continued their impressive run by improving to 11-4 overall and 5-0 in league play with a fifth straight victory.
     Rio Grande dropped to 7-9 overall and 2-4 in the RSC with a seventh consecutive loss.
     The RedStorm, who finished a back-and-forth first half with a 29-26 lead at the intermission, trailed by as many as nine points with just over six minutes to play before cutting the deficit to two, 52-50, on a layup by senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) with 1:59 remaining.
     Tupuola then registered his first points via a thunderous dunk on the Pomeroys' ensuing possession and, after a Rio Grande turnover, recorded a follow-up slam off a missed jumper by teammate Cobie Barnes for a 56-50 lead with 43.4 seconds left to play.
     Sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) got the RedStorm back within four, 56-52, on a jumper with 36.4 seconds left, but SMWC sealed the win by going 6-for-6 at the foul line - the first four of which came in 1-and-1 situations - over the final 28.1 seconds to seal the victory.
     Barnes led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Pomeroys with 18 points, while also pulling down a game-best 12 rebounds and blocking two shots.
     Chaz Birchfield added 14 points, two assists and two blocked shots of his own in the winning effort, while Greg Johnson and Greg Jenkins finished with 10 points each. Johnson also had three steals.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods shot just 33.9 percent overall (20-for-59) and just 16.7 percent from three-point range (2-for-12), but went 20-for-24 at the foul line (83.3%) and outrebounded the RedStorm, 41-39.
     Rio Grande shot just 36 percent overall (21-for-58) and was only 5-for-26 from three-point range (19.2%), including 1-for-14 from distance in a second half which included a scoreless stretch of more than seven minutes.
     The RedStorm made it to the free throw line just six times on the day and committed 15 turnovers - nearly double their per-game average - in a contest which featured seven ties and 15 lead changes.
     Sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) scored a game-high 20 points to pace the home team, while Mack finished with a season-high 12 points to go along with a team-best eight rebounds and three steals.
     Hundley finished with 10 points for Rio, while senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) handed out a game-high four assists.
     The RedStorm will look to snap their losing slide on Tuesday night when it hosts Midway University.
     Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.