Rio men cruise past Bulldogs

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Five players finished in double figures and the University of Rio Grande got the 2025-26 season off to a successful start with a 95-77 victory over Tennessee Wesleyan University, Monday night, in non-conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     The visiting Bulldogs were also playing their season opener.
     TWU jumped to a 10-4 just four minutes into the contest and still led 28-26 after a pair of Tarik Islamovic with 4:09 left in the opening half, but the rest of the night belonged to the RedStorm.
     Head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad closed the period on a 15-1 run for a 41-29 halftime advantage and extended its lead to 19 points, 51-32, following a dunk by senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) with 16:15 remaining in the game.
     The Bulldogs tried to make things interesting by closing the gap to 10 at 71-61 following two free throws by Ty Runyan with 8:05 left, but Rio responded with a 13-5 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes to push the cushion back to 18 points, 84-66, after a pair of free throws by senior Delon McCloud (Grand Rapids, MI) with 4:49 remaining.
     The RedStorm led by no less than 17 points the rest of the way and enjoyed their largest edge of the game, 93-71, after a layup by McCloud with 1:11 left in the game.
     McCloud scored 20 of his game-high 22 points after halftime, while senior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) netted 20 points of his own and Fox finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists.
     Junior James Wright (Redford, MI) and senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) added 15 and 11 points, respectively, in the winning effort.
     Rio Grande shot just under 48 percent overall (31-for-65) and just under 93 percent from the charity stripe (26-for-28), while committing just 10 turnovers and outrebounding the Bulldogs, 37-31.
     Tennessee Wesleyan finished 26-for-58 from the floor overall (44.8%) and was 19-for-26 at the foul line (73.1%).
     The Bulldogs totaled 17 turnovers.
     Charles Neverdon led TWU with 20 points, while Reshaun Hampton and Omarion Barber netted 16 and 10 points, respectively. Neverdon also had four steals and Barber blocked a pair of shots.
     Runyan had a game-high five assists in a losing cause and Armando Cuardado yanked down six rebounds.
     Rio Grande returns to the court on Thursday night when it hosts Bryant & Stratton (OH) College. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.