RedStorm men shoot down Eagles, end slide

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Finally.
     The monkey-turned-gorilla that was attached to the collective backs of the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team - the program's longest losing streak in six seasons - found somewhere else to go.
     The RedStorm built a 22-point second half lead and then held on down the stretch for a 79-66 victory over Midway University, Tuesday night, in River States Conference action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, which ended a seven-game losing slide, improved to 8-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play.
     Midway slipped to 4-9 overall and 2-5 in the RSC as a result of a sixth consecutive loss.
     Rio Grande trailed just twice - 5-4 and 8-7, both inside the first 6-1/2 minutes of the contest - and led by as many as nine points on five different occasions in the first half before settling on a 38-31 advantage at the intermission.
     The Eagles sliced the deficit to six, 45-39, after Decoreio Smith hit one of two free throws with 15:04 left to play, but the RedStorm responded with a 19-3 run over the next 4-1/2 minutes to open up their biggest lead of the night, 64-42, after a layup by junior Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN) with 10:32 remaining.
     Midway refused to fold, though, and responded with the game's next 12 points - 10 of which were scored by Donnie Miller - to make it 64-54 with 7:14 left to play.
     The Eagles eventually closed the gap to nine, 72-63, after Smith hit two free throws with 4:20 remaining, but got no closer after managing just three points the rest of the way.
     Rio Grande, which was playing under the direction of assistant coach Cal Cistaro while head coach Ryan Arrowood served the first half of a two-game administrative suspension, sealed the win by going 4-for-6 at the foul line in the final three minutes.
     The RedStorm, who entered the game shooting just 69 percent at the foul line, went 19-for-22 (86.4%) at the charity stripe.
     Sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) led Rio with 18 points, while senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) had 17 points to go along with six rebounds, a team-high four assists and a team-high three steals.
     Sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) and Smith added 12 and 10 points, respectively, in the winning effort and senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) finished with a game-high rebounds.
     Rio Grande finished 27-for-57 overall (47.4%) and turned 16 Midway turnovers into 21-7 edge in points off of turnovers.
     The Eagles were 22-for-55 from the floor overall (40.0%) and 15-for-20 at the foul line (75.0%), while also enjoying a 37-31 edge in rebounding.
     Smith had a game-high 20 points and three steals off the bench to lead Midway, while Miller netted 12 points - all in the second half - and Jalen Cincore tossed in 11 points to along with a pair of blocked shots.
     Robbie Henry led the Eagles with seven rebounds.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it travels to New Albany, Ind. to face Indiana University Southeast.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.