Ice-cold RedStorm falls to Red Wolves

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RICHMOND, Ind. - You can search both the University of Rio Grande and the NAIA's men's basketball record book and you won't find a listing for three-point attempts in a game WITHOUT success.
     But if there were such a dubious list to peruse, you'd have to think that the RedStorm's outing on Tuesday night against Indiana University East would rank somewhere near the top.
     Head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad went 0-for-26 from beyond the three-point arc in and shot a season-low 32.9 percent overall in a 65-53 loss to the short-handed Red Wolves in River States Conference action at the Student Activities and Events Center.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 23 for the time being in the most recent NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, saw a three-game win streak snapped and fell to 13-4 overall and 4-1 in league play.
     IU East, which was without the services of regular starters Antuane Allen (18.1 ppg) and Trent Johnson (9.5 ppg) due to injury, improved to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the RSC with the victory.
     The game started harmlessly enough for Rio Grande, with the RedStorm bolting to a 12-4 lead just over four minutes in, but the Red Wolves reeled off 10 straight points over the next 4:46 and took a 14-12 advantage after a jumper by Tobey Billups with 11:10 to play in the first half.
     IU East eventually stretched its cushion to as many as eight points, 33-25, after a dunk by Tarrell Jewell with 2:45 remaining before the intermission, but the RedStorm regrouped and closed the period on an 8-0 run for a 33-all deadlock at the break.
     Rio missed all 12 of its shot from distance in the half, but remained in striking distance by going 15-for-21 from two-point range and 3-for-3 at the foul line.
     Then came a disastrous second half, which saw 14 additional three-point tries go fruitless and an 8-for-37 showing from the floor overall (21.6%).
     Of the RedStorm's eight second half field goals, three came in the final 4-1/2 minutes after the Red Wolves had already built a 12-point cushion.
     IU East's largest lead of the night was 13 points, 64-51, after a pair of Caleb Maurer free throws with 34 seconds left.
     Rio Grande, which was coming off its best shooting performance of the year (35-for-63, 55.6%) in a win over Alice Lloyd on Sunday, finished 23-for-70 overall to top its previous season-low of 36.5 percent in a season-opening loss to Bethel (Ind.).
     Billups and Jake Johnson had 14 points each to lead IUE, while Maurer tossed in 13 and Jameer Ajibade tossed in 10 points.
     Johnson also had eight rebounds to go along with a game-high five assists and two steals, while Jewell had a team-high nine rebounds and two blocked shots in the winning effort.
     The Red Wolves shot 41 percent for the contest (25-for-61) and committed just five turnovers.
     Junior Keylane Lasisi (Paris, France) tallied a Rio career-best 14 points and 17 rebounds in the loss, while redshirt junior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) had 12 points and junior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) handed out three assists.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hits the road again - bound for Owensboro, Ky. - for a RSC meeting with Brescia University.
     Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. EST.