Rio men rally, hold on late to beat Brescia

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Trent Hundley scored a team-high 21 points, Trey Robertson netted 18 of his 20 points after halftime and the University of Rio Grande rallied from a five-point second half deficit to post a 73-70 win over Brescia University, Thursday night, in River States Conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm improved to 9-10 overall and 4-5 in league play with the win.
     Brescia fell to 4-9 overall and 2-6 in the RSC with a third conseuctive loss.
     The Bearcats matched the five-point lead they enjoyed with just under nine minutes to play in the opening half when a conventional three-point play by Gonzalo Luque with 12:32 left to play in the game made it 50-45.
     Robertson, a sophomore from Waverly, Ohio, proceeded to fuel Rio's subsequent rally by connecting on a rare four-point play to knot the score at 52-all with 11:17 remaining and nailing another trifecta - one of his five second half three-pointers - with 5:50 left which put the RedStorm in front, 59-57.
     It turned out to be an advantage that the home team refused to relinquish.
     Rio's biggest lead came when a pair of free throws by junior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) with 4:39 remaining made it 63-57, but Brescia did fight back to tie the game at 66-66 after a three-point by Taeron Hogg with 1:49 left to play.
     Hundley, a sophomore from Mt. Orab, Ohio, put the RedStorm back in front with a conventional three-point play on their ensuing possession and then went 4-for-4 at the foul line over the final 20 seconds - including two with 8.7 second left - to set the final score.
     Hundley, who entered the game shooting just 62.7 percent from the foul line, went 11-for-14 at the charity stripe, including 8-for-10 in the second half.
     Brescia had one last-gasp opportunity to force overtime, but Cory Gardner's would-be, game-tying three-pointer bounced off the rim and into the backboard support apparatus to give possession back to Rio Grande with 0.6 seconds remaining.
     Seniors Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) added 10 points each for the RedStorm, which finished 23-for-48 overall (47.9%), 10-for-24 from beyond the three-point arc (41.7%) and 17-for-21 at the foul line (81.0%)
     Robertson also handed out six assists and Hundley pulled down five rebounds in the winning effort. Both - in addition to junior Khamani Smith (Fort Wayne, IN) - had two steals each.
     Gardner led Brescia and all scorers with 24 points, while also adding a team-best four assists and three steals.
     John Saenz finished with 11 points, a team-high seven rebounds and three steals of his own in a losing effort, while Hogg had 10 points - nearly 13 below his season average.
     The Bearcats shot 52.8 percent overall (28-for-53), but hit just 11 of 18 free throw attempts (61.1%) and committed 17 turnovers which led directly to 24 Rio Grande points.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it hosts Oakland City University, which is under the direction of former Rio head coach Ken French.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.