Second half rally sends Tigers past Rio

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - What appeared to be ticketed as an early season signature win for the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team turned out to be a third narrow loss instead.
     Campbellsville University rallied from an 11-point second half deficit to post a 66-62 win over the RedStorm in Saturday's final round of the Bevo Francis Classic at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande dropped to 3-3 with the loss. The three setbacks have come by a combined nine points.
     The Tigers won for the eighth time in as many outings to begin the season.
     Campbellsville's perfect start looked as if it were in jeopardy after Rio Grande turned a four-point deficit late in the first half into an 11-point advantage, 51-40, following a bucket by junior James Wright (Detroit, MI) with 11:27 left in the game.
     The Tigers roared to life, though, reeling off a 26-7 run over the next nine minutes to take their largest advantage of the day, 66-58, following a three-point goal by TyShay Epps with 2:17 left to play.
     Rio Grande got a pair of free throws by junior Kuba Senczyszyn (Algonquin, IL) on its ensuing possession and a jumper by Senczyszyn with just over a minute remaining, but could get no closer.
     The RedStorm shot just under 42 percent overall (23-for-55) and was 12-for-13 at the foul line, but went only 4-for-19 from beyond the three-point arc and was outrebounded, 34-31.
     Four players reached double figures in scoring for head coach Ryan Arrowood, all finishing with 10 points each. The quartet included senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH), freshman Eli Roberts (South Webster, OH), senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) and Wright.
     Fox shared team rebounding honors with senior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) after pulling down five each and Robertson had seven assists.
     Campbellsville, which shot just over 48 percent overall (28-for-58), also had four players reach double figures in the win.
     Jay Milburn led the way with 15 points, while Eli Brooks tossed in 12 points and the duo of Epps and Dalton Kramer finished with 10 each.
     Brooks also had three assists and two steals, Milburn had two steals of his own and Parker Jones tallied a game-high six rebounds in the winning effort.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Tuesday night when it hosts Mount Vernon Nazarene in a non-conference matchup.
     Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.