Bears hit free throws late, hold off Rio men

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Shawnee State University built a nine-point halftime lead and then used a deadly shooting touch from the foul line to make it stand up in a 64-58 triumph over the University of Rio Grande, Tuesday night, in River States Conference men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, which had a modest two-game winning steak snapped, dropped to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
     Shawnee State upped its record to 11-4 overall and 3-0 against league foes.
     The Bears went 17-for-18 at the charity stripe in the contest, including 10-for-11 in the second half and 6-for-6 in the final 75 seconds after the host RedStorm had forged a 58-all deadlock following a dunk by junior Kuba Senczyszyn (Algonquin, IL) with 1:47 left to play.
     The two teams went back-and-forth with the lead over the first 11 minutes of the game, but Shawnee State used a 15-5 run to open up an 11-point advantage, 30-19, after Tyreon Payne connected on a pair of free throws with 2:38 left before halftime.
     The Bears settled for a 33-24 edge at the break and were still leading by eight, 55-47, after a layup by Payne with 5:44 remaining in the game when Rio began to mount a late rally.
     The game-tying slam by Senczyszyn capped an 11-3 run by the home team, but they also proved to be the final points of the night for the RedStorm.
     Rio's final four possessions of the contest produced two missed jump shots and a pair of turnovers, while SSU regained the lead on a pair of free throws by El Seiger with 1:15 remaining and then added insurance points on free throws by Jason Steele with 13 seconds left and two more foul shots by Kiante Williams with six seconds to play.
     Steele had 14 points to lead the winning effort, while Payne and Williams netted 11 and 10 points, respectively.
     Steele and Daniel Rosenber led the Bears with five rebounds each, while Steele and Seiger also had three steals apiece.
     Shawnee State shot just under 48 percent overall (21-for-44) in the game.
     Rio Grande did outrebound the Bears, 33-30, but shot just 36.5 percent overall (19-for-52) and was a dreadful 12-for-21 at the foul line (57.1%).
     Senior Delon McCloud (Grand Rapids, MI) led the RedStorm with 14 points, while fellow senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) had 12 and Senczyszyn netted 10.
     McCloud and Robertson also had four assists each, while senior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) snared a game-high eight rebounds.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it travels to New Albany, Ind. to face Indiana University Southeast.
     Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.