Rio Grande beats # 3 team in the nation...NAIA

[Focused]

I attended this game..Very exciting and enjoyable................

Men's Basketball 2008-09: RedStorm edge No. 3 MVNU in thriller



November 25, 2008
RedStorm edge No. 3 MVNU in thriller
Rio Grande---“The Thrill on the Hill” returned, at least for one night, at the University of Rio Grande’s Lyne Center and Newt Oliver Arena as the RedStorm outslugged NAIA Division II heavyweight Mount Vernon Nazarene, 82-81, before a raucous crowd on Tuesday evening. That phrase was coined back in the John Lawhorn era and Rio Grande has been looking to restore it for a while. They may have taken a step toward doing that, Tuesday night.

Rio Grande (7-1) fell behind early 13-6 and it looked as if the NAIA D II No. 3 and the pick to win the AMC, Cougars were going to run off and leave Rio in the dust. The RedStorm responded and quickly took the lead. The two teams went back and forth with neither side gaining the measure of the other.

Rio Grande carried a 39-36 lead to the half.

In the second half, Rio Grande pushed the lead to eight points at 53-45 only to see MVNU (5-2) come roaring back.

The RedStorm then hit back-to-back three’s by senior guards Brett Beucler (Sardinia, OH) and Kory Valentine (Circleville, OH) to give Rio a 64-53 lead with 9:43 remaining in the game.

Following a timeout, Mount Vernon Nazarene made a 14-4 run to get to within a point at 68-67 with 5:25 to play and finally tied it at 71-71 at the 3:22 mark.

Rio Grande made plays at the end of the game including nailing four consecutive free throws in the waning moments to secure the victory.

Beucler posted 20 points and pulled down five rebounds to lead the Rio attack. Senior center Will Norwell (Cincinnati, OH) added 19 points and hauled in seven boards. Senior forward Brandon Ivery (Columbus, OH) notched a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds and led the team with five assists. Junior guard P.J. Rase (Wheelersburg, OH) chipped in 14 points, including the clinching free throws with 5.1 seconds left.

Rio shot the ball extremely well, connecting 27-of-54 (50 percent) shots from the field and 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. The RedStorm also got the job done at the foul line, nailing 20-of-26 (76.9 percent), especially when the game was on the line.

Mount Vernon Nazarene (5-2) struggled from the perimeter and from the free throw line and can point to those areas as to why they lost the game. The Cougars shot a respectable 44.8 percent (30-of-67) from the field, but made only 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) attempts from three-point land and hit only 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) from the charity stripe.

The Cougars were led by Ben Falkenberg with 24 points and Brandon Short with 22. Jadin Thomas added 14 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had five steals.

Rio Grande head coach Ken French is pleased with the team has handled things of late. “This was a tough task, to go on the road, all the way to Houghton, NY (over the weekend), and on a short turnaround, only have one day of preparation to play the No. 3 team in the country, whose legit, they’re very good, they’re probably the best offensive team in NAIA Division II,” he said. “We feel like we played pretty well tonight, we’re fortunate enough to come away with the win.”

“We had guys step up and make plays and that’s what we talked about,” French added.

Rio will take a couple of days off for the Thanksgiving holiday and get right back at it against NAIA pre-season, No. 7 Cedarville, December 2 at the Newt. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Stretch Internet will have play-by-play coverage beginning at approximately 7:40 p.m.

[X8XOHIOLEGENDX7X]

wtg. rio

[Burg_Grad_77]

Congrats to the RedStorm on the big win. I've seen both Beucler and Rase play and both are great ballplayers and the Valentine boy has a great last name. lol (same as mine)

[Focused]

Congrats to the RedStorm on the big win. I've seen both Beucler and Rase play and both are great ballplayers and the Valentine boy has a great last name. lol (same as mine)

.....and all 3 played very good last night.....

[85inside]

Did John Tipton officiate this game? LOL. Tough loss for my Cougars. I think we will get some poay back when the Redmen come back north.

[Focused]

Tipton did not officiate..... MVNU has a very good team and will have a very good season.. They were averaging 97 points a game before the Rio contest, and are the pre-season pick to win the AMC.
Rio was picked to finish 10th in the conference..... a very big win for the Red Storm.... Maybe, just maybe, they will surprise a few more teams.

[IronTigerMum]

I hope they do surprise a few more teams Focused!! Congrats to the Rio Men!