Rio Grande sweeps IUK in basketball
Jan. 4—RIO GRANDE, Ohio — Rio Grande beat IU Kokomo 71-68 Tuesday in a River States Conference men's basketball game between division leaders.
The Red Storm pushed their East Division-leading record to 6-0. The Cougars still lead the West Division at 5-1, but Midway is right on IUK's heels at 4-1.
Hunter White led IUK (11-5 overall) with 30 points and four assists. Darian Porch had eight points and seven rebounds.
Rio Grande (12-4) countered with five players in double figures.
Rio Grande held a big advantage in 3-pointers. The Red Storm made 9 of 21 attempts compared to the Cougars making just 3 of 20.
In the women's game, NAIA No. 12-ranked Rio Grande beat IUK 76-49. The Cougars trailed by just one, 28-27, late in the first half before the Red Storm pulled away for a 40-27 halftime lead. It was 58-39 after three quarters.
Freshman guard Ella Wolfe led IUK (1-14 overall, 1-5 RSC) with 11 points, Alaya Chapman had nine points while Anna Kiser added seven.
IUK hosts Ohio Christian in an RSC doubleheader Saturday. The women's game is at 1 p.m. and the men's game follows at 3 p.m.
RSC HONORS HINES
The RSC named Xavier Hines its Men's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 26-Jan. 1.
The senior forward from Noblesville averaged 16.0 points per game and shot 70% from the field in two games for the Cougars. He came off the bench for 20 points and a 6-for-10 performance from 3-point range in a close loss to Mt. Vernon Nazarene. He started the next game and went a perfect 5 for 5 from the field with two treys and scored 12 points in a victory over Lawrence Tech.
