RedStorm men wallop Wolves

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Notably, Indiana University East arrived at the Newt Oliver Arena on Tuesday night missing its leading scorer and three other regular contributors due to a combination of illness or injury.
     The University of Rio Grande, who desperately needed a win in order to keep alive its hope of hosting a quarterfinal round game in the upcoming River States Conference Men's Basketball Championship, had little sympathy for the visiting Red Wolves.
     Outside of a tie in the game's opening minute, the RedStorm led from start to finish, building an 18-point first half lead and cruising to an eventual 94-61 victory.
     Rio Grande improved to 15-12 overall and 10-5 in league play with the win and regained control of its own post-season destiny in the process.
     Coupled with Midway University's overtime loss at West Virginia University-Tech, the win gives head coach Ryan Arrowood's squad sole possession of second place in the RSC East Division.
     A win over Kentucky Christian University in Saturday's regular season finale would allow the RedStorm the opportunity to host one of next Wednesday's four quarterfinal matchups in the RSC Tournament.
     Tuesday night's loss left IU East at 11-16 overall and 3-12 against RSC foes.
     The Red Wolves forged a 2-2 tie on a layup by Tarrell Jewell just 34 seconds into the contest, but Rio countered with a layup by senior Delon McCloud (Grand Rapids, MI) - the reigning RSC Offensive Player of the Week - 23 seconds later and maintained a lead for the remainder of the night.
     That advantage reached 18 points, 44-26, after a pair of free throws by freshman Brody Buchanan (Proctorville, OH) with 4:30 left in the first half before settling at 46-32 by the intermission.
     The visitors got no closer the rest of the way.
     Rio's largest lead of the night - 38 points - came with just under 2-1/2 minutes left to play when a steal and subsequent layup by Buchanan made it 94-56.
     All 11 players in uniform for the RedStorm saw action, with eight of the 11 scoring. Five of the eight finished the night in double figures.
     McCloud led the way with 18 points, while the trio of seniors Jaelin Johnson (Fairmont, WV) and Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) and junior James Wright (Detroit, MI) all had 14 points each.
     Junior Kuba Senczyszyn (Algonquin, IL) added 13 points of his own to the winning effort.
     Wright tallied a team-high eight rebounds, while senior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) had five assists and four steals.
     Rio Grande shot 56.5 percent overall (39-for-69) and enjoyed a 38-28 edge in rebounding.
     IU East shot a respectable 42.9 percent overall (24-for-56), but was just 6-for-21 from outside the three-point arc (28.6%) and committed 22 turnovers.
     Jeremiah Landers and Mikey Johnson had 10 points each in a losing cause for the Red Wolves, while Johnson had five rebounds and Tobey Billups finished with six assists and two steals.
     Rio Grande's meeting with Kentucky Christian on Saturday will serve as Senior Day. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.