Rio, G’Town meet in battle of ranked teams

RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The University of Rio Grande men’s basketball team will begin its second run through the Mid-South Conference on Thursday night when defending national champion and No. 18-ranked Georgetown College visits the Newt Oliver Arena.

Tipoff is set for approximately 8 p.m., following the conclusion of the 6 p.m. women’s opener and the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night introductions between games.

Despite splitting their two outings last week, the RedStorm (14-6 overall, 7-2 MSC) jumped six spots to No. 14 in the latest NAIA Division I coaches poll released on Tuesday. The ranking is the highest for the program since it was No. 5 in the December 8, 2008 NAIA Division II poll.

Rio Grande rebounded from an 18-point loss at then-No. 4 Pikeville last Thursday by rallying in the final two minutes on Saturday afternoon to post an 88-85 win at Bluefield (Va.) College.

Junior forward Josh Reagan (Cleveland, OH) poured in a career-high 46 points and had a team-high nine rebounds to lead the RedStorm, who needed the late rally after coughing up an 11-point second half advantage.

Reagan went 17-for-19 from the field and scored 21 of Rio’s final 25 points in the victory. His 46 points represent the second-highest single-game total in Division I this season.

Senior guard Jermaine Warmack (Orange, NJ) was responsible for many of the passes that Reagan converted into points, registering a career-high 14 assists to go along with 12 points of his own.

The RedStorm also got 11 points from sophomore forward Phillip Hertz (Rungsted Kyst, Denmark) in the victory.

Reagan leads Rio Grande in scoring at 19.9 points per game, while Hertz (14.2 ppg), Warmack (11.3 ppg) and freshman forward Bilal Young (10.3 ppg) are also averaging in double-figures.

Young, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, is pulling down a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game, while Warmack tops the squad at 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per outing.

Georgetown (15-5, 6-3) is coming off of a 91-87 win at Lindsey Wilson on Sunday afternoon – a game which saw the Tigers rally from a three-point halftime deficit and from 12 points down with just under 12 minutes remaining to secure the victory.

Senior guard Monty Wilson (6-4) scored a game-high 32 points to lead GC, while junior guard Dominique Hagans (6-2) had 15 points, senior forward/center Montavious Marc (6-9) finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore guard Noah Cottrill (6-3) tossed in 11 points.

Rio Grande won the earlier meeting between the two teams, 79-72, on January 4 in Georgetown, Ky. It was just the fifth win in 27 all-time meetings with the Tigers for the RedStorm.

Wilson leads a quartet of players averaging in double figures for Georgetown at 24.0 points per game. The list also includes Hagans (14.3), 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Deondre McWhorter (13.8) and Cottrill (13.5).

McWhorter averages a team-best 8.6 rebounds, while Hagans leads the club in both assists (3.9) and steals (2.7).

Live video of the contest will be available at www.ihigh.com/redstorm beginning at approximately 7:45 p.m.