The No. 2 seed Robert Morris men’s basketball team bowed out of the Horizon League Tournament on Monday with a 70-64 upset loss to third-seeded Detroit Mercy in Indianapolis.
The Colonials entered the game on an eight-game win streak and having defeated Detroit twice during the regular season. The semifinal tournament loss ended the Colonials’ bid for consecutive Horizon League championships, as well as back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Robert Morris was not only favored to make it back to the Horizon League Championship game, but several analysts had them winning the tournament and receiving the automatic bid to the NCAA “Big Dance.”
In the first half, Robert Morris held a six-point lead, primarily through the use of good defense that held Detroit without a field goal for several minutes. With both teams struggling to score from 3-point range, Detroit eventually went on a 6-0 run that tied the score at 31-31. The Colonials answered with a 5-2 run toward the end of the half and took a 36-33 lead into the locker room.
The second half began with the Colonials holding small leads, but the Titans eventually went on a 14-2 run to take the lead and extend it to 54-45 at the 9:46 mark.
Detroit was led by Orlando Lovejoy, who scored a game-high 21 points, and the Titans were sparked by the play off the bench of 5-foot-8 freshman Lance Stone, who had 16 points.
Robert Morris crawled back into the game on an 8-2 run to make it a one possession game for most of the waning minutes. Detroit eventually sealed the victory by connecting on 17 of 22 from the charity stripe, while RMU hit on only 56% its attempts.
Detroit’s defensive tactics also created 14 RMU turnovers and nine steals, resulting in 17 of the Titans’ points. The Colonials struggled from the 3-point arc, shooting only 22% for the night.
Detroit’s game plan was to key on RMU’s Ryan Prather, whom they held to just 11 points. DeSean Goode, the Horizon League’s Player of the Year, broke through for a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Nikolaos Chitikoudis added 13 and Ta’Zir Smith chipped in 11.
Detroit, 17-14, will move on to play the No. 1 seed Wright State Raiders (22-11), who defeated Northern Kentucky to reach the championship game. Robert Morris’ season has ended at 22-11 unless the Colonials receive an invitation to another postseason tournament, such as the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the College Basketball Invitational (CBI), the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) or the College Basketball Crown.
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