Grenadiers Topple Rio Grande 71-68 to Advance to RSC Championship Game

RIO GRANDE, Ohio - The IU Southeast men's basketball team went to Rio Grande and defeated the RedStorm 71-68 to advance to the RSC Championship Game.

IU Southeast opened the game with a three by Caleb Brown. The Grenadiers held a 12-9 lead at the first media timeout.

 Back-to-back layups made it 16-9 IU Southeast. After a Rio Grande three cut the lead to four, the Grenadiers hit back-to-back layups once again to jump ahead 22-14.

 Rio Grande hit two threes in a row to cut the lead to three. Glenn Hill hit a jumper for IU Southeast, but the RedStorm hit another three to cut the Grenadier lead to 24-23. Rio Grande took the lead on a jumper by Kaden Warner.

 Rio took a 28-25 lead on another shot from long distance. IU Southeast rattled off four straight points to take the lead back at 29-28.

 The RedStorm hit a three to take a 34-33 lead. Jaivaughn Jackson hit a layup for the Grenadiers to send the game into the half with IU Southeast leading 35-34.

 Rio Grande hit a three four minutes into the half to take a 44-39 lead. Glenn Hill and Anthony Wales Jr. hit back-to-back threes to take a one-point lead at 45-44.

 A three by Jaivaughn Jackson gave IU Southeast a 50-46 advantage. After Rio Grande cut the lead to 52-51, Glenn Hill scored six straight points to give the Grenadiers a 58-51 lead.

 After a 30 second timeout by IU Southeast, Jaivaughn Jackson scored seven straight points to extend the Grenadier lead to 13 at 67-54.

 Rio Grande rattled off seven straight points to narrow the deficit to six at 67-61. Two free throws by Rio Grande narrowed the Grenadier lead to four with 1:39 remaining.

 Jaivaughn Jackson hit a layup with 26 seconds remaining to give IU Southeast a 71-65 advantage. Rio Grande answered with a three-point play to cut the lead to three with 19 seconds left.

 IU Southeast missed a layup, giving Rio Grande a chance to tie, but Glenn Hill came up with a steal to secure the 71-68 IU Southeast victory.

 Jaivaughn Jackson led the Grenadiers with 30 points off the bench on 14-of-21 shooting from the field. Glenn Hill scored 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. JJ Reed grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Grenadiers dominated the RedStorm in the paint, outscoring Rio Grande 51-22 and held a 38-28 rebounding advantage.

 IU Southeast moves to 22-8 on the season. The Grenadiers were the only RSC team to defeat Rio Grande this season. The RSC Championship sees IU Southeast traveling to IU Kokomo on Tuesday at 7 p.m.