RedStorm men build big lead, hold off Oakland City

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande built a 16-point lead early in the second half and then held on down the stretch for an 81-75 win over Oakland City University, Saturday afternoon, in River States Conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The RedStorm evened their overall record at 10-10 and improved to 5-5 in conference play with a second straight victory.
     Oakland City, which is coached by former Rio Grande head coach Ken French, dropped to 7-12 overall and 2-7 in the RSC with a fifth consecutive loss. The five losses have come by a combined 17 points.
     The Mighty Oaks trailed just 18-16 after a layup by Drake Moore with 9:38 left before the intermission, but Rio closed the half on a 16-7 run for an 11-point halftime lead.
     The RedStorm's advantage grew to as many as 16 points, 42-26, after a layup by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) with 16:32 remaining and stayed a double-digit cushion for nearly all of the following 9-1/2 minutes.
     Oakland City refused to go away quietly, though, and did its best to make things a bit interesting down the stretch.
     A layup by Jake Cochran with 3:23 left pulled the guests within six points, 65-59, and the deficit eventually dropped to four, 79-75, after Tanner Toopes hit two of three free throw tries with 17.2 seconds remaining, but Rio sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) hit two free throws of his own with 12.7 seconds left and the Mighty Oaks misfired on a three-point try on their ensuing possession to settle the issue once and for all.
     Rio Grande sealed the win at the foul line as the Mighty Oaks attempted to extend the game, going 16-for-20 at the stripe over the final 3:14 of the contest. Robertson and Hundley combined to go 14-for-18 during the stretch.
     Hundley, who set a new season- and career-high of 30 points one week earlier in a loss at Indiana University Southeast, equaled the figure and earned game-high honors in win over Oakland City.
     Robertson finished with 18 points of his own to go along with a team-best three assists, while junior Eythan House (Montrose, Austraila) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
     The RedStorm finished 24-for-50 overall (48.0%) and 5-for-17 from distance (29.4%), while going 28-for-41 at the free throw line (68.3%).
     Moore tallied a season- and career-high 29 points in the loss for Oakland City, while Muller registered 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Josh Williams finished with 10 points.
     DJ Redding also had a game-best four assists for the Mighty Oaks, who went 27-for-62 overall (43.5%) and 15-for-24 at the foul line (62.5%) in addition to outrebounding their hosts, 36-35.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action next Saturday when it travels to Richmond, Ind. to face Indiana University East in a 3 p.m. tipoff.