Men's Basketball's Loss Goes Down to the Wire Against Rio Grande

Cory Gardner would get the scoring started for the Bearcats with a three ball to take the lead. A quick rebuttal by the Red Storm would show that they wouldn't go down without a fight. Gardner would continue his hot streak with back-to-back jump shots to stretch the Bearcat lead to five. Rio would slowly work their way back into the lead as two consecutive threes would tie and take the advantage for the Red Storm. The Bearcats would run cold for a two-minute hiatus until Taeron Hogg would sink back-to-back jumpers to get the BU within two. A Rio Grande technical foul would give the Bearcats a chance to tie the game for a third time as Mark Cooper would drain both free throws. With five minutes left in the first half and a Rio five-point advantage, the Bearcats got physical in the paint as they drew fouls finishing at the rim. Hogg would go 1-2 at the charity stripe. A costly turnover would give the Bearcats the ball with just a minute left. Cooper would cut the lead to two on his layup as John Saenz would follow up with his tip-in shot to tie it with 30 seconds left. Neither team could get a final shot off as they head to the locker rooms.

Gardner would steal the ball coming out of the half to spark the offense with an emphatic dunk to take the lead. The conference rivals would battle back and forth as Gardner continued to on his 13-point second half, master class. With 10 minutes left and the two point lead, the Bearcats looked to keep it that way as an offensive foul by the Red Storm would give BU possession. Camden Pfeister would make the most of it with his layup to keep the Red Storm at bay. It wasn't long as the two teams would battle again going shot for shot as the momentum looked to sway in Rio's favor. A made layup and-one would give the Red Storm a chance to make it a three-point game with a minute left in regulation. A made layup by Saenz would put the Bearcats down by just one point. A questionable call on a Gardner jump shot that should have been counted a three, kept the Bearcats down by one as they were forced to foul. BU couldn't convert on the final play as they battled until the final seconds in this matchup.

Cory Gardner led the team with 24 points on 11-13 shooting and 2-3 from beyond the arc with three steals.

The Bearcats will take on Ohio Christian this Saturday as they finish the road trip with a tip-off time of 2pm CT.