Seniors send Rio men into RSC semifinals

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The four seniors who comprise the core of the University of Rio Grande's men's basketball program made their final appearance in the Newt Oliver Arena one to remember.
     The quartet of Delon McCloud, Jaelin Johnson, Trey Robertson and Jaylin Fox combined for all but 12 of their team's points in the RedStorm's 102-91 win over St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, Wednesday night, in the quarterfinal round of the River States Conference Championship.
     Rio Grande, the tourney's No. 2 seed from the East Division, improved to 17-12 with a fourth consecutive win and earned a spot in Saturday's semifinal round against West Division No. 1 seed Indiana University Kokomo.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods, the No. 3 seed out of the West Division, finished its season at 14-15 after falling to the RedStorm for the second time in less than a month.
     The Pomeroys led 14-13 following a layup by Jared Bonds with 12:55 remaining in the opening half, but Rio Grande responded with a 13-2 run over the next 3-1/2 minutes - capped by a three-pointer from Johnson (Fairmont, WV) - to open up a 26-16 advantage.
     SMWC got no closer than seven points for the remainder of the night.
     The RedStorm stretched their lead to as many as 19 points in the waning moments of the half before settling on a 17-point cushion, 47-30, at the break.
     Rio eventually pushed its edge to as many as 20 points on three occasions in the second half - the last of which came at 60-40 after three-pointer by McCloud (Grand Rapids, MI) with 13:46 remaining - but SMWC refused to go away quietly.
     The Pomeroys sliced the deficit to eight, 72-64, after a layup by Stanley Harley with 6:40 left in the game, but the RedStorm responded again with a 12-4 spurt over the next three minutes to extend their lead back to 16 points and the cushion never dipped below 10 points from that point on.
     Rio Grande protected its lead at the foul line, going 16-for-16 at the stripe over the final 6-1/2 minutes.
     The RedStorm finished 18-for-18 at the foul line in the second half and 29-for-32 (90.6%) for the game.
     McCloud led all scorers with 37 points, 26 of which came after halftime. It was the third time in the last four outings where he has scored 37 points or more.
     McCloud also had a team-high seven rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.
     Johnson finished with 23 points, 14 of which came in the first half.
     Fox (South Haven, MI) added 17 points to the winning effort, while Robertson (Waverly, OH) tallied 13 points and a game-high five assists.
     Rio Grande shot 55.4 percent overall (31-for-56) and was 11-for-23 from distance (47.8%).
     The RedStorm surpassed the 100-point mark for the second straight game, marking the first time that's happened since opening the 2014-15 season with three straight 100-point or more outings.
     Mike Ajukwa scored 24 points off the bench to lead six double-digit scorers for SMWC.
     Ellis Todd finished with 15, while Malachi Pearson had 14, Harley tossed in 13, Donovan Barnett netted 12 and DeYon Bell tallied 11.
     Bell also had nine rebounds and two blocked shots for the Pomeroys, while Harley handed out three assists.
     SMWC shot 51.4 percent overall (37-for-72) and enjoyed a 36-26 edge in rebounding, but saw Rio turn 12 Pomeroy turnovers into 25 points.
     Rio Grande's semifinal tilt at IU Kokomo on Saturday will tip at 3 p.m.