Shawnee State outlasts Rio men in 2 OTs

Rio Grande Sports Information
     PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - One thing about Saturday afternoon's regular season finale at rival Shawnee State University was abundantly clear.
     A weathered and worn - not to mention short-handed - University of Rio Grande men's basketball team wasn't going down without a fight.
     The RedStorm rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to force a pair of overtime periods, but came up on the short end of a 79-74 loss to the Bears in River States Conference action at the Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium.
     Shawnee State improved to 19-8 overall and 13-4 in the RSC with the win. The Bears will be seeded third in the RSC Championship Tournament, which begins with a pair of first round games on Monday night.
     Rio Grande dropped to 12-16 overall and 6-11 in league play with the loss. Each of the last two conference setbacks for head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad have come in overtime.
     The loss also leaves the RedStorm as the No. 8 seed in the conference tourney, which means a first round matchup against No. 9 Indiana University East at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande played Saturday's game without the services of their leading scorer, sophomore Trent Hundley (Mt. Orab, OH), who was sidelined due to concussion protocol.
     The RedStorm also were without sophomore Will Hill (Dayton, OH), who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Wednesday night's win over Kent State University - Tuscarawas.
     Senior Miki Tadic (Hilversum, The Netherlands) and freshman Aiden Porter (Proctorville, OH), who missed Wednesday's game due to illness and injury, respectively, both played, although neither was at full strength.
     Still, the RedStorm led by as many as six points in the first half, but saw its lead dwindle to one, 31-30, at halftime and disappear into an 11-point deficit after Keith Germain hit one of two free throws to make it 57-46 with 9:02 left in the game.
     Rio began the road back, though, reeling off a 15-3 run over the next seven minutes and taking a 61-60 lead on a layup by sophomore Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) with 2:03 remaining.
     The beginning stages of the frantic finish followed.
     Shawnee State's Tyreke Johnson had his would-be game-winning layup blocked by Rio senior Taylor Mack (Akron, OH) just before time expired in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
     Johnson did connect on a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the overtime to give the Bears a 70-68 lead, but Robertson countered out of a Rio timeout with a layup with six seconds left to knot the score at 70-all.
     Johnson's second chance at a game-winner - a three-pointer as time expired - was off the mark and the contest marked toward a second overtime.
     A conventional three-point play by SSU's Tre Beard just 18 seconds into the second OT gave the hosts a lead they would never relinquish, though.
     Rio Grande twice shaved the deficit one over the next three minutes, including 75-74 after a layup by sophomore Jay Moore (Beckley, WV) with 1:45 left to play.
     Those proved to be the last points that Rio would score, though.
     The RedStorm went 0-for-3 from the floor with a turnover over their final four possessions, while Beard hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to nail down the victory.
     Beard led four double-digit scorers for Shawnee State with 24 points, while Chaze Harris had 15 points, five steals and four assists.
     John Dawson and Johnson added 13 and 12 points, respectively, in the winning effort, while AJ Belton yanked down 10 rebounds.
     Robertson finished with a game-high 25 points for Rio Grande, while Mack netted a career-high 17 points and junior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) had 15.
     Moore also pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds for the RedStorm.
     Rio's playoff game with IU East on Monday night is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.