The Robert Morris men’s basketball team will open its home nonconference schedule with a Nov. 10 game against the Geneva College Golden Tornadoes at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township.
The Colonials, who split their season-opening two-game road trip last week, will then play another home matchup against Pitt-Greensburg on Thursday, Nov. 13.
Both the Monday and Thursday games, which find the Division I Colonials taking on Division III programs, will have 7 p.m. start times.
In their season opener, the Colonials traveled to Iowa City, Iowa, last week to take on Iowa from the Big 10 Conference, and the Hawkeyes came away with a 101-69 victory.
The game included the intrigue of Alvaro Folgueiras, the former RMU star from a year ago and the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year, now playing for the Hawkeyes after leaving through the transfer portal.
The new Robert Morris roster was put to the test as Iowa applied significant defensive pressure, causing 23 turnovers by RMU and resulting in 33 points for Iowa.
Folgueiras scored 11 points against his former team, including three 3-pointers. Bennett Stirtz led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 19 points.
The Colonials, who were unable to keep pace with Iowa, were led by Nikolaos Chitikoudis, who scored 14 points. Ryan Prather added 12 points and DeSean Goode 11 to round out the top scorers for RMU.
Things went much better for the Colonials on the second half of its swing through Iowa, as they edged Drake, 81-79, in overtime to snap the Bulldogs’ 49-game nonconference home winning streak, a streak that dated back to 2016.
The Missouri Valley Conference foe was favored in the game, but it was the Colonials who stormed out to 40-35 halftime lead. Drake was able to keep the game close and eventually forced overtime with a 68-68 tie at the end of regulation. The Colonials outscored the Bulldogs in overtime 13-11 for the win.
Chitikoudis again led RMU in scoring, as he finished the game with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Goode also chipped in a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Prather and Albert Vargas both added 12 points. Jalen Quinn led Drake with 20 points.
2-0 RMU women travel to Saint Francis, host Duquesne
The Colonials (2-0) will play rivals in back-to-back nonconference games, taking on Saint Francis from the Northeast Conference at 7 p.m. Thursday in Loretto and then facing crosstown rival Duquesne from the Atlantic 10 Conference in a “City Game” faceoff at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township.
In its first two games of the season, RMU came away with a pair of wins, beating the University of Illinois-Chicago, 78-63, in the Windy City and then defeating Akron, 70-61, at home.
In the win over UIC, the Colonials built a 34-27 lead at halftime and maintained it the rest of the way. RMU was led by Aislin Malcolm, who scored 26 points, while Noa Givon and Bailey Kuhns each added 13. UIC’s Jessica Carrothers led all scorers with 28 points.
The Colonials opened their home schedule against Akron, which got a game-high 25 points from Ni’Rah Clark and played RMU evenly through the first half.
But Robert Morris, led by Malcolm’s 20 points and 15 from Givon, broke away from a 29-29 halftime tie to claim its second win in two starts.
Bailey Kuhns had 11 rebounds for the Colonials.
Be First to Comment