Last-second free throws doom RedStorm men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The River States Conference adopted the use of video review with the start of the 2024-25 season in an effort to align itself with what the NAIA has implemented for its national championship tournaments.
     And while the premise of eliminating the slings and arrows of human error might seem like a good thing, you could understand if the University of Rio Grande wishes that things were as they used to be.
     Indiana University East's Jake Johnson drilled a trio of free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining - attempts which were granted to him upon further review of video - to give the Red Wolves a dramatic 63-62 River States Conference men's basketball win over the RedStorm, Saturday afternoon, in the regular season finale for both teams at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     IU East improved to 16-12 overall and 10-6 in league play, completing a regular season sweep of Rio Grande and improving to 18-2 against the RedStorm all-time.
     Rio Grande slipped to 19-9 overall and 10-6 in the RSC with a second consecutive loss and third setback in its last four outings.
     The defeat also cost head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad a home game in the quarterfinal round of the upcoming RSC Men's Basketball Championship, which begins on Wednesday at higher seeded campus sites.
     The RedStorm, which led for a large portion of the back-and-forth affair, had actually rallied from a four-point deficit with just under 10 minutes remaining to take a 62-60 lead on a reverse layup by senior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) with 2.3 seconds left to play.
     After a timeout and with the length of the course to traverse, IU East inbounded the ball to Johnson, who took one dribble and was fouled by junior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) with 0.7 seconds left.
     The foul was the strategic product of Rio having fouls to give, with the intention of forcing the Red Wolves to have to put the ball in play yet again and, thus, reducing the guests' chances at getting off a potential game-tying or game-winning shot.
     However, the three-man officiating crew went to the video monitor to review the play and made the decision that Johnson was fouled in the act of putting up a desperation heave from three-quarter-court and awarded him three free throws.
     Johnson, a 77.6 percent free throw shooter for the season, calmly hit his first two attempts from the charity stripe to knot the score at 62-all and - after a Rio Grande timeout - drained the third to give his team the lead.
     Rio Grande did manage to get the ball into the front court with its ensuing inbounds pass, but Fox's turnaround jumper from 25 feet out was off the mark and the devastating finish was complete.
     Ironically, video review also cost the RedStorm two other points in the contest.
     Junior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) was originally awarded a basket via a goaltending violation against the Red Wolves just 37 seconds into the second half but, after review during the first media timeout of the second half, the basket was wiped out.
     The contest was close-to-the-vest from the outset, with a total of eight ties and 10 lead changes.
     Rio Grande's biggest cushion of the day was eight points, 20-12, after a three-pointer by Fox with 10:49 left in the first half, while East's largest advantage in the contest was the aforementioned four-point lead, 51-47, after a bucket by Antuane Allen with 9:57 left to play.
     The RedStorm rallied to regain a five-point edge, 56-51, after a pair of free throws by senior Eric Butler (Orlando, FL) with 7:37 remaining, but the Red Wolves went back in front, 60-58, after a bucket by Jameer Ajibade with 3:19 to play.
     Rio tied the game on a basket by Butler with 1:00 remaining and went ahead on the House layup in the closing seconds to set up the wild finish.
     Allen led IU East with a game-high 24 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Johnson finished with 13 points and Tobey Billups added 12 points and four assists.
     The Red Wolves finished 23-for-57 overall (40.4%), but were just 4-for-18 from distance (22.2%).
     Rio Grande struggled offensively as well, shooting just 38.7 percent overall (24-for-62) and going just 3-for-16 from beyond the three-point arc (18.8%).
     Fox led Rio Grande with 16 points and also had 10 rebounds and three steals, while Butler netted 15 points and handed out five assists.
     Redshirt junior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) also reached double figures with 11 points and junior Keylane Lasisi (Paris, France) pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds.
     IU East grabbed the No. 2 seed from the RSC East Division and will host West No. 3 seed Brescia in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
     Rio Grande finished as the No. 3 seed in the East and will travel to West No. 2 Indiana University Kokomo for the opening round of the tourney.