The Robert Morris University men’s basketball team will look for its second straight Horizon League Tournament victory Monday night, March 9, when it takes on Detroit Mercy at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.
The No. 2 seeded Colonials advanced to Monday’s semifinal matchup with a 68-53 first-round win over Youngstown State on Wednesday, March 4. Monday’s game will start at 9:30 p.m. and is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2.
Detroit reached the semifinal matchup by defeating the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 84-63, Wednesday. Robert Morris enters Monday night’s semifinal game with a 22-10 record, while the Titans are 16-14.
The Colonials defeated Detroit twice during the regular season, winning 85-77 on Jan. 2 in Detroit and posting a 73-62 home victory on Feb. 25. The Titans’ leading scorers are Orlando Lovejoy and TJ Nadeau, averaging 15 and 13 points per game, respectively.
In the victory over Youngstown State, a crowd of 3,537 at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township saw the game begin slowly with several lead changes, and neither team able to generate much offense through the first 10 minutes. Both teams played well defensively for the entire first half, and Robert Morris led 28-23 at halftime.
The game remained close thorough the first third of the second half before Robert Morris went on a 16-2 run to take a 52-37 lead at the 8:01 mark and never looked back, even extending the lead to 20 points later in the game.
Robert Morris’ defense held the Penguins to only 53 points, though they averaged 77 per game during the regular season. The Colonials shot well, hitting on 47% from the field and 48% from the 3-point arc. Ryan Prather led RMU with a game-high 24 points and added seven rebounds. DeSean Goode recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Darius Livingston chipped in 12 points.
Youngstown State’s top scorer was Vladimer Salaridze, who had 18 points and nine rebounds, while Cris Carroll added 17 points. The Penguins finished the season 15-17 overall and 8-12 in Horizon League play.
For the second consecutive season, the Colonials have produced the Horizon League’s Player of the Year. Last year, Alvaro Folgueiras was named Player of the Year and Goode has been named the Player of the Year for the 2025-26 season. Goode was also named first-team All-Horizon League. Prather was named to the league’s second team, Nikolaos Chitikoudis made the all-defensive team and Darius Livingston was named to the all-freshman team.
Colonials Bow Out of Tournament with Loss to Purdue-FW
The Robert Morris women’s basketball team lost their first-round Horizon League Tournament game in Fort Wayne, Ind., 73-43, to the Purdue-Fort Wayne Mastodons on March 4.
Purdue-FW used a smothering defense and excellent outside shooting to dominate the contest, ending the Colonials’ season with an 18-12 overall record and 11-9 in the Horizon League.
Robert Morris took an early 4-0 lead, but Purdue-FW answered with a 9-0 run. The game was tied at 26-26 with 2:14 remaining in the first half, but PFW finished the half on a 7-2 run to take a 33-29 lead into the locker-room.
Purdue-FW continued with great defensive play in the second half, allowing the Colonials to make only four baskets in the entire half, while going on an 18-2 run of its own to take a 20-point lead, and the Mastadons never came close to relinquishing it.
Purdue-FW outrebounded RMU 30-25 and caused 19 turnovers, which resulted in 25 points, and also also shot 49% from the 3-point stripe. Robert Morris shot only 28% from the floor and 18% from the 3-point range.
Mariam Traore led RMU with 12 points, while Bailey Kuhns added nine points and Eva Levingston had eight points and seven rebounds. Traore and Aislin Malcolm were named to the All-Horizon League third team, while Levingston was named to the league’s all-defensive team.
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