RedStorm men wallop Alice Lloyd

Rio Grande Sports Information
     RIO GRANDE, Ohio - It was an extended second half scoring spurt which propelled the University of Rio Grande to a win over West Virginia University-Tech on Wednesday afternoon.
     In a weather-delayed Sunday afternoon meeting against another River States Conference East Division rival, the RedStorm's game-changing run came significantly earlier.
     Head coach Ryan Arrowood's club reeled off 24 consecutive first half points and never looked back, cruising to a 96-57 rout of visiting Alice Lloyd College in men's basketball action at the Newt Oliver Arena.
     Rio Grande, ranked No. 23 in the most recent NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, improved to 13-3 overall and 4-0 in conference play with a third straight victory.
     Alice Lloyd, which came into the contest riding a five-game winning streak, dropped to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the RSC.
     The Eagles grabbed what proved to be their first - and only - lead just under three minutes into the game when a three-pointer by Jared Strickland made it 7-5, but graduate senior Milan Square (Youngstown, OH) drilled a three-pointer on Rio's ensuing possession to kickstart a 24-0 run over the next six-plus minutes which gave the RedStorm a 22-point advantage and complete control of the contest.
     Alice Lloyd - which came into the game averaging just under 90 points per game - got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way, trailing by 20 at the intermission and by as many as 45 points with just over two minutes left in the game.
     The Eagles shot just 37.5 percent overall (21-for-56) and no player reached double figures in scoring, while also being outrebounded, 38-28.
     Square, who was coming off a season- and Rio career-high 22 points in Wednesday's win over WVU-Tech, bludgeoned the visitors by scoring 23 of his game-high 28 points in the opening half - including 10 during the 24-0 run. He finished 10-for-15 from the field overall and was 6-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc.
     Square got plenty of offensive help from his teammates in the second half as Rio shot just over 63 percent from the floor (19-for-30) over the final 20 minutes.
     Senior Eythan House (Montrose, Australia) and junior Jaylin Fox (South Haven, MI) came off the bench to score 15 and 14 points, respectively, while junior Trey Robertson (Waverly, OH) had 13 points to go along with a game-high seven assists and two steals.
     Senior Eric Butler (Orlando, FL) just missed double figures with eight points, but also added a team-high seven rebounds to go along with six assists of his own and a pair of blocked shots.
     Rio Grande finished 35-for-63 overall (55.6%), including 11-for-23 from distance (47.8%), while connecting of 15 of 19 free throws.
     The RedStorm also forced ALC into 16 turnovers and blocked eight shots.
     Jared Strickland led the Eagles with nine points, while Ben Soumahoro had eight points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Brady Nelson added three assists in a losing cause.
     Rio Grande returns to action on Tuesday evening when it travels to Richmond, Indiana to face Indiana University East in another RSC tilt.
     Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.