Rio men rally twice, top Eagles in RSC opener

Rio Grande Sports Information
     MIDWAY, Ky. - The University of Rio Grande rallied from a 12-point first half deficit and then rebounded from a six-point shortfall in the second half to post a 71-64 win over Midway University, Tuesday night, in River States Conference men's basketball action at Marshall Gymnasium.
     Rio Grande, which won for a second straight time, improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the RSC with the win.
     The host Eagles dropped to 3-5 overall and 0-1 against conference foes.
     Midway jumped to a 16-4 advantage just under five minutes into the contest, but the RedStorm methodically chipped away at the deficit and eventually took a 29-28 lead on a layup by junior James Wright (Detroit, MI) with 4:55 left before halftime.
     Rio Grande stretched its lead to as many as seven points before settling on a four-point cushion, 41-37, at the intermission.
     The Eagles mounted a comeback of their own, though, and regained a 44-43 edge following a steal and subsequent dunk by Decoreio Smith with 16:28 remaining in the contest.
     The new-found cushion grew to as many six points after a bucket by Blake Warner made it 54-48 with 9:42 left but, as they did in the first half, the RedStorm regrouped and started the road back.
     A three-point goal by senior Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) with just over 7-1/2 minutes remaining put Rio back in front, 55-54, but it was a jumper by freshman Eli Roberts (South Webster, OH) with 6:11 left to play which put head coach Ryan Arrowood's club in front to stay, 57-56.
     Roberts' go-ahead basket also kickstarted what eventually became a 9-0 Rio scoring spurt which produced a 64-56 lead after a steal by senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) and subsequent layup by Johnson with 2:40 remaining.
     Midway twice drew within five points, but got no closer the rest of the way.
     Rio's largest lead of the night was 10 points after a layup by senior Jaylin Fox in the closing seconds made it 71-61.
     Robertson led five double-digit scorers in the winning effort with a game-high 21 points. He added seven rebounds, a team-high six assists and a team-best three steals to complete a solid all-around effort.
     Roberts finished with 11 points, while Johnson, Fox and Wright all netted 10 points each. Fox took team rebound honors with nine, while Wright equaled Robertson with three steals.
     Rio Grande shot just over 41 percent overall (26-for-63) and outrebounded the Eagles, 44-36.
     Midway, which shot 43.1 percent overall (25-for-58), had a trio of double-digit scorers.
     Amari Wales finished with 18 points to go along with five assists and three steals, while Smith had 12 points and five assists of his own and Maurice Washington-Williams tallied 10 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and a trio of blocked shots.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Friday, Dec. 12, when it hosts the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) for a 6 p.m. tipoff at the Newt Oliver Arena.