Short-handed Rio men post Senior Night win

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Despite having three players sidelined by illness or injury and losing another to injury during the game itself, the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team found a way to make Senior Night a success.
     The RedStorm spotted Kent State University - Tuscarawas an 8-0 lead out of the gate before rebounding to pull away for a 72-61 win over the Golden Eagles, Wednesday night, in non-conference play at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande improved to 12-15 with a second straight win.
     KSU-T, the No. 6-ranked team in Division II of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), slipped to 19-9 with the loss.
     Rio Grande, which honored its five senior players in pregame activities, played without one member of the quintet when Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) was a game-time scratch due to illness.
     Tadic's absence, which came with freshman Aiden Porter (Proctorville, OH) and junior Exauce Manissa (Brazzaville, The Congo) also reduced to the role of spectators while nursing minor injuries, was further exacerbated when sophomore Will Hill (Dayton, OH) went down with what appeared to be a significant knee injury and had to be helped from the floor with just over 4-1/2 minutes left in the first half.
     The Golden Eagles, who coughed up their early eight-point lead, managed to rebuild a six-point cushion with just under six minutes left in the half and still enjoyed a 35-33 advantage at the intermission.
     Rio Grande regained the lead in the opening moments of the second half, though, but the cushion stood at just 47-44 with 15:07 remaining after a driving dunk by KSU-T's Kyle Shockley.
     However, the RedStorm countered Shockley's slam with a 14-0 run over the next three minutes and took what proved to be their largest lead of the night, 61-44, after a layup by sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH) with 10:51 left to play.
     KSU-Tuscarawas did score the next seven points to shave the deficit 10 and even got within eight, 64-56, after a bucket by Mekhi Johnson with 5:40 remaining, but the Golden Eagles got no closer the rest of the way and managed only five points for the remainder of the contest.
     Hundley led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Rio Grande with a game-high 20 points, while senior Taylor Mack added 11 points to go along with a game-best nine rebounds.
     Junior Eythan House (Montrose, Austrailia) hit four three-pointers en route to 14 points, while sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) finished with 10 points - eight of which came in the second half and five of which came during the pivotal 14-0 run - and a game-high seven assists.
     The RedStorm shot 46 percent overall (29-for-63) and hit 10 three-point goals.
     Kyle Shockley finished with 19 points to lead KSU- Tuscarawas, while Kameron Shockley had 12 points and six rebounds and Johnson tallied 10 points.
     Reche' Dixon also had six rebounds in the loss for the Golden Eagles, while Vincent Roper had six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday night when it wraps up regular season play at River States Conference rival Shawnee State University.
     Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.