Late bucket helps Fire burn Rio men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     XENIA, Ohio - After battling back from a disastrous start, the University of Rio Grande men's basketball team was made to suffer through a disastrous finish.
     Southeastern (Fla.) University's Jayson Nixon drilled a go-ahead three-point goal with three seconds remaining to lift the Fire past the RedStorm, 86-83, in the opening round of the Athletes In Action Christmas Classic, Tuesday night, at the John Wooden Family Fieldhouse.
     Southeastern, which was among the team's receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 coaches' poll, won for the 11th time in 12 outings.
     Rio Grande, which suffered a second consecutive loss, saw its overall record even at 5-5.
     The RedStorm trailed 10-0 out of the gate and were down by as many as 11 points in the first half, but methodically chipped away at the deficit before a trifecta by senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) with 5:35 left before halftime knotted the score at 28-28.
     Southeastern eventually settled on a 41-38 cushion at the intermission, but Rio kept charging and took its first lead of the night, 42-41, following a layup by senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) just under a minute into the second stanza.
     The two teams traded the lead over the next 4-1/2 minutes before another layup by Fox - with 15:54 remaining - put the RedStorm in front.
     Rio Grande maintained the advantage, twice leading by as many as seven points and still holding a 75-69 edge after a jumper by Robertson with 4:18 left to play, until a conventional three-point play by Nixon with 3:41 remaining capped a 7-0 run which put the Fire back in front.
     A pair of ties and two lead changes followed over the next 3:20 before Rio senior Delon McCloud (Grand Rapids, MI) connected on a driving layup with 21 seconds left to force yet another tie at 83-all.
     Nixon connected on his go-ahead jumper - from roughly 27 feet out - on Southeastern's ensuing possession and Rio's last hope to force overtime ended when a would-be, game-tying three-quarter-court heave fell short as time expired.
     Southeastern, which shot 65 percent in the opening half, finished the game at 57 percent (28-for-49), including 9-for-15 from beyond the three-point arc (60.0%).
     The Fire also enjoyed a 34-24 edge in rebounding, which helped them survive 18 turnovers that produced 29 Rio points.
     Nixon finished with 24 points, four assists and three steals to fuel the winning effort, while Daivion Taylor had 23 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
     Mylo Santos also had 15 points for Southeastern.
     Robertson led Rio Grande with 19 points, five rebounds, 10 assists and three steals, while McCloud had 17 points and junior James Wright (Detroit, MI) tallied 16 points off the bench.
     Fox added 13 points and five rebounds of his own in the loss.
     The RedStorm shot just over 50 percent overall (31-for-61) and just over 83 percent at the foul line (15-for-18).
     Rio Grande will wrap up play in the Classic on Wednesday when it faces No. 24 Georgia Gwinnett College, which fell to Marian (Ind.) University, in Tuesday's opening game.
     Wednesday's game is set for a 5 p.m. tipoff.