Point Park starts fast, holds off RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The energy that the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team had to expend in an effort to erase a huge first half deficit might very well have left it without enough gas in the tank to finish the job.
     After whittling a 21-point shortfall down to five with just under eight minutes remaining, the RedStorm managed just six points the rest of the way and Point Park University pulled away for 75-59 victory, Tuesday night, in River States Conference action at the CCAC-Allegheny Gymnasium.
     The Pioneers, who were ranked No. 22 in the most recent NAIA coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 22-2 overall and 11-2 in the RSC with the win, completing a regular season sweep of Rio Grande in the process.
     The RedStorm suffered a third straight setback and slipped to 10-13 overall and 5-8 in league play.
     Rio trailed just 11-8 after a bucket by sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) with 15:47 left in the first half, but watched the hosts reel off 17 of the game's next 20 points to open up a 17-point advantage, 28-11, after a Joe Valrie free throw with 9:35 remaining before halftime.
     The Pioneers' cushion reached as many as 21 points, 40-19, after Nazareth Fisher scored on a stickleback following an offensive rebound with 6:04 left before the break.
     The RedStorm started the path back, though, with a 7-0 run to end the half and a three-pointer by Robertson just 10 seconds into the second stanza to make it 40-29.
     Point Park scored the next six points to increase the lead back to 17 points, but Rio Grande continued to methodically chip away at the deficit and closed to within 58-53 following a bucket by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) with 7:58 left to play.
     Unfortunately, that was as close as the RedStorm would get the rest of the way.
     Rio went just 3-for-10 from the floor over the game's stretch run, while committing one turnover and missing its only two free throw attempts.
     Point Park was 6-for-9 from the floor over the same stretch, including buckets by 7-foot-2 center Jagsshaanbir Singh Jawar on three straight possessions, to help pull away.
     Valrie led Point Park's winning effort with a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jalen Stamps added 17 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
     Jamisen Smith tossed in 12 points for the Pioneers and Singh Jawar completed a quartet of double-digit scorers with 10 points, as well as four blocked shots.
     Point Park shot 45.9 percent for the game (28-for-61) and finished with a 42-29 edge on the glass.
     Rio Grande shot a respectable 43 percent overall (25-for-58) and had just six turnovers, but the RedStorm didn't help their comeback effort by going just 4-for-12 at the free throw line.
     Hundley shared game-high honors and led Rio with 23 points, while Robertson finished with 14 points and three assists and sophomore Will Hill (Dayton, OH) had seven rebounds - a new Rio career-high for the WVU-Tech transfer.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it hosts Ohio Christian University for a 3 p.m. tipoff at the Newt Oliver Arena.