Rio Grande Red Storm continues to roll...

[Focused]

December 8, 2008
RedStorm hoops continue to roll
Montgomery, WV---The University of Rio Grande RedStorm men’s basketball team continued to roll over the weekend with a pair of victories at the Baisi Classic, held at West Virginia Tech. Rio throttled Cincinnati Clermont on Friday, 100-66 without top scorer Brandon Ivery. With Ivery back in the line-up on Saturday, the RedStorm defeated Tennessee Temple, 77-65.

Rio Grande (10-1) rested Ivery, who is nursing some injuries at present, against Clermont, but clearly did not need him as they jumped out to a 54-39 halftime lead and cruised in the second half, outscoring Clermont, 46-27.

Rio placed four players in double figures, led by junior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH). Rase poured in 19 points, on the strength of five three-pointers for the game. Senior center Will Norwell (Cincinnati, OH) continued his solid play with 15 points, going 6-for-7 from the field. Senior guard Kory Valentine (Circleville, OH) added 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and freshman guard Brad Cubbie (Dayton, OH) scored, a career-high, 10 points.

Clermont (2-7) was led by Ian Gordon and Seth Steele with 16 points each. Gordon led all players with seven rebounds.

Turnovers were crucial to the outcome of this game as the Cougars recorded 32 miscues for the game, to only 13 for the RedStorm.

Rio had a tougher challenge versus Tennessee Temple on Saturday, but still managed a double-digit victory. Ivery was back and the rest did him wonders as he crushed the opposition with a double-double performance of 30 points and 12 rebounds. Norwell was again in double figures with 12 points and senior guard Aaron Drakeford (Columbus, OH) chipped in 10 points and collected seven rebounds.

Valentine added five points and was named to the All-Tournament team.

The Crusaders (1-7) were led by Windyl Johnson with 13 points and six rebounds. Zack Mouw added 12 points while Brandon Brown and Curtis Porter scored 11 points each.

Rio Grande will get the week off for finals and then return to action on Saturday in the Newt Oliver Coaches Classic against Ohio State-Newark at 3:30 p.m. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at approximately 3 p.m.