KOKOMO, Ind. - The IU Kokomo men's basketball team has now seen their losing streak extended to four games, having dropped a close one at home Thursday night to a strong Rio Grande squad. With the loss, the Cougars are now 13-8 overall and 4-5 in River States Conference play.

After an even first half that saw the two sides enter halftime knotted at 35, Rio Grande scored the first points of the second half as they maintained a lead for the remainder of the game. Neither team led by more than eight points at any point in the game.

The first four points of Thursday night's contest went the way of IU Kokomo, as both Dell DeMyers and Noah Harris scored in the paint for an early 4-0 lead.

IU Kokomo's largest lead of the game was five points, and occurred on multiple occasions in the first half. Leading the RedStorm 20-15 with 12:19 to play in the first half, URG would outscore IUK 10-5 over the course of the next five and a half minutes to take their first lead of the game.

The two squads traded the lead a few more times in the closing minutes of the first half, before IU Kokomo's Drake Moore made a buzzer-beating layup to even the score at 35 heading into halftime.

Rio Grande's leading scorer on the night, Eric Butler, drilled a three-pointer for the first points of the second half on his way to a game-high 24 points. As mentioned, Butler's triple would gift the RedStorm a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

The Cougars quickly fell behind by seven, but four quick free-throws from Noah Harris cut the lead to three and forced a Rio Grande timeout. 

Head coach Eric Echelbarger's squad would pull within a possession of the RedStorm five times in the final ten minutes, yet Rio Grande managed to put the game away comfortably, escaping town with an 82-76 road victory.

Evan Kretz was the highest scoring Cougar on the night, knocking down four triples en-route to a team-high 18 points. Max Newman and Dell DeMyers each followed with 16 points, as Newman added nine rebounds and four assists. 

Noah Harris followed with an efficient 10 points on 3-4 shooting from the field, all while going 4-4 at the charity stripe.

The Cougars have a quick turnaround before battling another stout opponent in Shawnee State, as they will welcome the Bears to town Saturday for a 1:00 PM tip-off.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the IU Kokomo Cougars, fans can visit IUKCougars.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Cougar news by following @IUKAthletics on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.