No. 20 Rio Grande to Battle No.4 Bears

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The University of Rio Grande men’s basketball team will seek its seventh straight victory – and sole possession of first place in the Mid-South Conference – on Thursday night when it opens a two-game weekend road trip against the University of Pikeville.

Tipoff is set for approximately 8 p.m. at the East Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville.

Rio Grande improved to 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the MSC with a wild 132-121 win over Campbellsville University on Saturday afternoon at the Newt Oliver Arena.

The victory gave the RedStorm their first six-game winning streak since the 2008-09 season and their first Top 25 ranking – Rio was No. 20 in the NAIA Division I coaches’ poll released Tuesday – since January 19, 2009 while still a member of the Division II America Mideast Conference.

Junior forward Josh Reagan (Cleveland, OH) had 36 points and 13 rebounds to lead Rio in Saturday’s win, while senior guard Jermaine Warmack (Orange, NJ) had 28 points and nine assists and sophomore guard D.D. Joiner (Columbus, OH) added 24 points. Joiner was named the MSC Player of the Week on Monday.

Sophomore forward Phillip Hertz (Rungsted Kyst, Denmark) added 12 points and 10 rebounds in the winning effort, while senior Ricky Tisdale (Bolivar, TN) had 10 points of his own.

Reagan is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game through the six contests he’s participated in since becoming eligible at the semester break, while Hertz and Warmack are second and third, respectively, on the list at 14.3 ppg and 11.8 ppg.

Freshman forward Bilal Young (Cleveland, OH) and Joiner both check in at 10.3 points per game, while Young also continues to lead the team at 7.4 rebounds per contest.

Pikeville (15-2, 6-1) rebounded from a loss at Georgetown last Thursday by outlasting the University of the Cumberlands, 66-61, on Saturday afternoon. Still, the Bears slipped to the No. 4 position in this week’s coaches poll after resting atop the list prior to the Georgetown game.

Senior forward Bruce Reed (6-8) had a game-high 25 points for head coach Kelly Wells’ club, while King had 17 points, junior swingman Kenny Maniqualt (6-5) added 12 and junior forward Chris Cantino (6-8) had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Reed leads UPike in scoring at 18.2 ppg, while King is scoring at a 15.3 points per game clip. Cantino averages 14.8 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Bears.

A live audio-only webcast of the game will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm beginning 15 minutes prior to tipoff.

Live video will be available through Pikeville athletics at http://new.livestream.com//piketvlive.