IU Kokomo takes first-round tourney win over Rio Grande

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The Indiana University Kokomo Cougars finished their regular season on a hot streak, putting together a seven-game winning run and a perfect month of February. They entered the River States Conference Men's Basketball Championship Tournament with a 20-8 record and sincere hopes of a deep postseason run.

The University of Rio Grande Red Storm traveled to Kokomo on Feb. 26 for the opening round match, and quickly discovered that the Cougars were legitimate, as IUK prevailed, 66-46.

The two teams played close throughout the early minutes of the game, trading the lead twice, and with a little less than 10 minutes remaining in the opening frame, Rio Grande took the lead on a three-pointer from Jaylin Fox.

That was the last time the Red Storm enjoyed success on the court. IU Kokomo went on a 9-1 run over the next four minutes to re-establish dominance, then kept their opponents at bay until the break.

While the Cougars played sufficiently in the first half on offense, their defense truly impacted Rio Grande. With every shooter harassed, the Red Storm struggled mightily to find the basket. They took 35 shots but landed only nine of them for a 26-percent success rate.

Rio Grande quickly discovered that such inaccuracy would cost them, and IU Kokomo led 32-26 at halftime. While the Cougars enjoyed a six-point lead, the team came out after the break and walked away with the game.

IUK got hot, launching a 19-3 streak, capped by a back-breaking three-pointer from Dell DeMyers with 12:23 to play. The run quickly put the game out of reach.

Rio Grande never got closer than 17 points for the remainder of the game, and the Cougars delivered a parting gift with a commanding dunk from Kedric Anderson with 39 seconds remaining to finish off their rivals.

IUK led by as much as 23 points -- a margin achieved twice in the second half. Again, Rio failed to find the hoop with any regularity, shooting an anemic 27 percent from the field in the back half of the game.

Meanwhile the Cougars hit a respectable 44 percent of their shots and went a nearly perfect 14-16 from the foul line.

Anderson led the Cougars with 19 points, but he was one of four IUK players to find double digits. Max Newman tallied 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. Joseph Annan Jr. also registered 12 points, and Chris Chin poured in 11 points.

Defensively, Noah Harris dominated the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds.

Rio Grande was led by Jaylin Fox, who scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead his team. Keylane Lasisi added 12 rebounds.

The win vaulted the Cougars to the semifinals of the River States Conference Championship. But the No. 2-seeded IU Kokomo team could not outlast Indiana University Southeast on March 1, losing 81-78 to end the season.

See additional photos from this game, courtesy of Adam Hartsough, on the Lantern's Facebook page or group.