RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- Jalen Stamps scored a game-high 30 points, and Jo Valrie added 21 points and 16 rebounds to lead Point Park University men's basketball to a 65-62 win at (RV) University of Rio Grande (Ohio) on Tuesday night. It was the River States Conference opener for the Pioneers, who improved to 8-0 on the year. 

Rio Grande, which is "receiving votes" in the NAIA Top 25 Poll and is the RSC preseason favorite, fell to 6-2, 1-1 RSC. The Pioneers snapped a five-game losing streak to the RedStorm. 

Point Park ended the game on a 10-4 run. The Pioneers were facing a 58-55 deficit with under 2:00 to go before Valrie hit a big 3-pointer at the top of the key to tie the game and start the decisive run. 

The Pioneers defense then got the first of two critical stops in the last 90 seconds. With the score still tied at 58-58, Stamps missed a 3-pointer, but Valrie was there for the offensive rebound. He was fouled as he went back up and proceeded to make both free throws for a 60-58 lead. 

Point Park again came up with a defensive stop, and Valrie cleared the defensive board with under a minute to go. Although Valrie missed a jumper as the shot clock wound down, senior Jordan Stowe was there for a big offensive rebound with just 21 seconds left. 

Stowe was fouled and made both free throws for a 62-58 lead. Although Rio Grande raced in for a couple of layups on its ensuing possessions, the Pioneers made their free throws to stay in front. Point Park was 13 for 14 the second half and 16 for 18 for the game. 

It was a very clean game with Point Park making just four turnovers and Rio Grande six the entire night. 

Point Park had three players reach double figures in scoring with Jamisen Smith notching 10 points. He made a jumper to give the Pioneers a 31-25 lead at the half. 

Kaden Warner led Rio Grande with 22 points, including a couple of jumpers that kept Rio Grande ahead in the final few minutes. The first one kept the RedStorm in front, 54-51, with the second one coming right after for a 56-53 lead. 

In between each of Warner's clutch baskets, Stamps raced in for a reverse layup and Smith turned around for a jumper in the lane. But Rio Grande was still holding on to that 56-53 lead when a timeout was called with 3:12 go to. 

With Stamps having 28 of Point Park's 53 points to that point, Valrie took things from there. He scored eight points in the final 2:36 and grabbed some big rebounds on both ends to provide a difference. Before it was all said and done, Stamps had a couple of free throws as well to get within two points of his career-high 32 last year in the RSC semifinals. 

Point Park led by as many as nine in the first half with the first of Stamps' four treys on the night making the score 19-10. Stamps hit another 3-pointer to stop a 7-0 Rio Grande run and keep Point Park ahead, 22-17. 

After the 31-25 lead at the half, Point Park was still leading 40-36 on a trey by Stamps at the 14:10 mark. But Rio Grande responded with an 8-0 run, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from Miki Tadic. At 44-40, the RedStorm had their first lead since 2-0. 

There were several ties and lead changes from that point on. The game had seven lead changes and four ties in all. 

Point Park will have another big RSC East Division matchup on Saturday, Dec. 2. The Pioneers have their first conference game at home when they host Shawnee State (Ohio) with tipoff 3:00 p.m. at CCAC-Allegheny.