The Robert Morris men’s basketball team will look to defend its Horizon League championship from a year ago by hosting an opening round tournament game at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 4.
The game, at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, will feature the No. 2 seed Colonials against No. 9 seed Youngstown State, a team that RMU defeated, 89-78, in the Horizon League championship game last season.
The Colonials, 21-10 overall and 13-7 in league action, ride a seven-game win streak and a 13-3 home record into the tournament. Season statistics place RMU as the No. 1 defense and No. 8 offense in the Horizon League.
Ryan Prather led Robert Morris in scoring with 15.6 points per game during the regular season, while ranking third in the league in 3-point shooting percentage. DeSean Goode averaged 15.4 ppg, and topped the league in both field goal percentage and rebounding. Nikolaos Chitikoudis finished the season as the league’s No. 2 rebounder and No. 3 in field goal percentage, while averaging 11 ppg.
Youngstown State, 15-16 overall and 8-12 in conference play, features one of the top scorers in the league in Cris Carroll. Carroll ranks No. 4 in the conference in scoring and averages 17 points per game.
The Penguins’ final regular-season statistics show them at No. 2 in defense and No. 7 offensively in the conference. Robert Morris swept the series against the Penguins with an 80-77 home victory on Dec. 17 and a 72-66 win on Feb. 7 in Youngstown, Ohio.
The Pomoroy Basketball Rankings have Robert Morris as the No. 146 ranked team, which is ahead of the Horizon League’s top seed Wright State, which is at No.153. Coach Andy Toole is asking for increased fan support to create a great basketball atmosphere. The UPMC Events Center is an excellent venue to enjoy a game, and the Colonials are arguably the best Division 1 basketball team in the city of Pittsburgh.
The Colonials wrapped up their regular season Saturday with an 83-64 home victory over the Cleveland State Vikings.
Robert Morris came out of the gates quickly and took a 12-5 lead, but it was short-lived as the Vikings went on a 14-0 run at 10:57. Cleveland State played well defensively and continued to hold a 29-18 lead at the 7:22 mark. The Colonials turned the tide with a 12-1 run to tie the game with 4:15 left in the half, and the half ended in a 39-39 tie.
The second half began with four lead changes and two ties. Cleveland State led 54-50 at the 14:15 mark, primarily by scoring 23 points off nine RMU turnovers. With 5:54 remaining, Robert Morris went on a 23-2 run to take a 73-56 lead and cruised to victory. The Colonials shot 55% from the field and 40% from the 3-point arc, while outrebounding the Vikings 34-25.
Chitikoudis led RMU with a double-double – scoring a game-high 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Goode had 16 points for the Colonials, Darius Livingston scored 12 and Prather added 11, while hitting the double-digit scoring mark in 13 of his past 14 games.
RMU women open Horizon League Tournament Wednesday
The No. 6 seed Robert Morris women’s team will venture into the Horizon League Tournament with a matchup against No. 5 seed Purdue-Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind.
The Colonials enter the game 18-11 overall and 11-9 in conference, while featuring the No. 4 defense and No. 8 offense in the league. Defensively, RMU was the Horizon League’s top rebounding team and ranked second in blocked shots. Aislin Malcolm led Robert Morris with 12 points per game and was the league’s best from the charity stripe. The team’s second-leading scorer was Mariam Traore, who averaged 11 ppg.
Purdue-FW, 18-12 overall and 12-8 in league play, had the conference’s No. 1 offense and ranked No. 5 defensively. Alana Nelson led the Mastodons with 16 ppg, which was No. 2 in the league, as well as ranking No. 3 in 3-point shooting percentage. The teams split the season series with Purdue-FW winning in Fort Wayne, 60-46, while RMU took the second game, 74-64, in Moon Township.
The Colonials won their regular-season and home finale, 62-50, over the Wright State Raiders on Saturday. In the first half, Wright State went on a 12-0 run to take a 21-7 lead. Robert Morris answered with a 12-0 run of its own to tie the game with 5:29 remaining in the half. The Raiders hit key buckets in the final minutes to take a 27-23 lead at the break.
The second half began with a 14-0 RMU run, which led to a 37-27 lead. Wright State kept the game close with small runs, but the Colonials outscored the Raiders 11-7 in the final minutes for the win. Traore scored a game-high 19 points for Robert Morris, while Malcolm scored 14 and Jada Lee added eight rebounds.
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