Rio men shoot down Eagles in RSC opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MIDWAY, Ky. - As they boarded their bus to Midway, Ky. for Wednesday night's River States Conference opener against the Midway University Eagles, the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team learned they'd cracked the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll.
     Once they arrived in the Bluegrass State, head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad went about proving that they were worthy of being recognized.
     The 23rd-ranked RedStorm snapped an 18-all deadlock by closing the first half on a 27-7 run and never looked back, cruising to a 77-59 win over their hosts at Marshall Gymnasium.
     Rio Grande moved to 9-1 with a ninth consecutive triumph.
     The victory also came without the services of the RedStorm's third-leading scorer, junior guard Trey Robertson (14.7 ppg), who missed the contest after suffering a foot injury in last Saturday's win over then-No. 9 University of the Cumberlands (Ky.).
     Midway dropped to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the RSC with the loss.
     The Eagles led 15-12 nine minutes into the game and were tied at 18-18 after a bucket by Jalen Cincore - a preseason All-RSC selection who was making his season debut - with 9:16 left in the first half.
     But from that point on, though, it was rough sledding or the home team.
     Midway hit just three of its final 16 shots in the half, while committing five turnovers during the same stretch, as Rio Grande built a 45-25 cushion at the intermission.
     The RedStorm's lead reached its apex with 17:19 left to play when a layup by junior Keylane Lasisi (Paris, France) made it 51-27, but the Eagles did mount a rally to make things interesting for a bit.
     A 16-3 Midway run - capped by a steal and subsequent layup by Travontae Swift - got Midway within 11 points at 54-43 with 12:06 remaining, but Rio responded with 11 of the game's next 14 points - culminated by an offensive rebound and stickback by Lasisi with 6:27 left - to push its advantage back to 19 points at 65-46.
     The Eagles got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
     Senior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) led four double-digit scorers for Rio Grande with a career-high 19 points - 14 of which came in the opening half.
     Redshirt junior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) added 17 points, junior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) totaled 12 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and six blocked shots and graduate senior Milan Square (Youngstown, OH) had 10 points.
     The RedStorm also received nine points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots by senior Eric Butler (Orlando, FL).
     Rio Grande shot an even 50 percent overall (31-for-62) and enjoyed a commanding 49-34 edge in rebounding.
     Midway shot just 34.8 percent overall (24-for-69), including a dismal 2-for-20 showing from three-point range, while also going just 9-for-14 at the foul line (64.3%).
     Swift had 11 points and four steals for the Eagles, while Cincore netted 10 points and yanked down a team-best six rebounds in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Friday night when it hosts Montreat (N.C.) at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.