Ahead by 11 points at halftime (39-28) and up by 15 points (44-29) with 17:17 remaining, the Shawnee State men's basketball program couldn't hold its early double-digit advantages as the Rio Grande men's basketball program edged SSU, 64-61, in a nonconference rivalry matchup at Waller Gymnasium Wednesday afternoon.

Shawnee State (4-1), who shot a solid 14-of-30 in the opening half, got a massive performance from 6-11 big EJ Onu, who scored 20 of his 39 tallies in the opening half by going an outstanding 8-of-10 from the field over the first 20 minutes of action, allowing SSU to take its largest lead of the game to that point heading into the break. SSU also held a 20-11 first-half rebounding advantage en route to a 39-27 edge on the glass.

However, Shawnee State, after opening up its lead to a 44-29 cushion with just over 17 minutes to go, struggled mightily in the second half as the Bears went just 9-of-28 from the floor, with Onu himself only getting two shot attempts -- makes with 14:59 and 4.8 seconds to play -- in the final 20-minute stanza.

Rio Grande (4-2), by contrast, played to its strengths and dictated the second-half tempo, ultimately going 12-of-27 from three-point range while getting key plays from Shiloah Blevins and Redeetris Richardson, in particular. Richardson went 4-of-7 from downtown and held SSU star wing James Jones to his lowest point total of the year (14 points on 13 shot attempts) while Blevins, who scored six straight tallies at one point, scored or assisted on 11 consecutive Rio Grande points to aid an 18-4 run that gave the RedStorm a 51-50 lead with 7:37 to go.

Dakota Prichard came up big by scoring five of Shawnee State's next seven points to put the Bears back in front by a 57-54 margin, but SSU missed four of its final six attempts in the contest, allowing Richardson to tie the game with a trey and Miroslav Tadic to tack on four free throws that gave Rio Grande a 61-57 lead.

Field goals by Prichard and Onu with 16.2 and 4.8 seconds left kept the pressure on the RedStorm, and after a Blevins miss on the back end of the double bounds, Prichard beat the buzzer with a half-court heave, but missed said attempt off of the right side of the rim as the contest came to a close.

For the contest, Onu tied his career-high with 24 points and added in six rebounds on 10-of-12 shooting, while James Jones added in 14 points and six rebounds to join Onu in double-figures. Donoven Carlisle's nine points and nine rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting rounded out the Bears' main scoring and rebounding efforts. Blevins and Richardson led the RedStorm with 14 points apiece in a balanced effort.

Shawnee State is scheduled to be back in action next Thursday and Saturday, when the Bears head back into Mid-South Conference play with contests against Cumberland (Tenn.) and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.). Game times are at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT.

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