Strong finish fuels Rio in win over Warriors
Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The second half started well for Indiana Tech, but the rest of the night belonged to the University of Rio Grande.
The RedStorm reeled off 26 unanswered points to close out a 36-15 Senior Night win over the Warriors, Saturday night, in Big Rivers Rugby Conference action at Red Valley Pitch.
Rio Grande (2-3, 1-1 BRRC) snapped a three-game losing slide and picked up its first win since a season-opening triumph at home against the University of Michigan on Aug. 22.
The Warriors slipped to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in league play with the loss.
Rio Grande took a 10-0 lead just under 10 minutes into the contest thanks to a penalty kick by junior Thibault Carrere (Dax, Landes, France) and try by senior Will Spencer (Hemel Hempstead, England), but Tech got a try from Max Brinker and conversion kick by Dakota Faulkner with 7:40 remaining in the first half to close the deficit to 10-7.
Faulkner closed the final possession of the half with a penalty kick after time had expired to tie the game and the Warriors grabbed their first - and only - lead of the night, 15-10, on a try by Andrew Evans just over five minutes into the second stanza.
The rest of the night, though, was all home team all the time.
Senior Zack Thomas (Grove City, OH) found the try zone with 32:30 remaining and Carrere tacked on the conversion to give Rio a 17-15 lead, while a try by sophomore Jasher Chris Abraham (Abuja, Nigeria) and conversion by Carrere pushed the advantage to 24-15 just under seven minutes later.
Sophomore Luke Turner (Eastbourne, England) got into the scoring fray with a try of his own with 22:20 left to play and Carrere's conversion boot extended Rio's cushion to 31-15.
The final points of the contest came with 3:50 remaining on a try by freshman Onthatile Mmachacha (Johannesberg, South Africa).
Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Saturday when it travels to Kutztown (Pa.) State University.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.