The Robert Morris men’s basketball team will honor its seniors when it plays its last regular season game against the Cleveland State Vikings at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the UPMC Events Center.
Cleveland State enters the Horizon League contest with a 10-20 overall record and is 6-13 in conference. The Vikings will feature Dayan Nessah, who averages 15 points per game and is shooting 55% from the floor, and Tre Brown, who contributes 13 ppg per game and is hitting at a 42% clip from 3-point range.
Saturday’s matchup will be an important one for the Colonials as they are positioning themselves in the standings for seeding in the upcoming Horizon League tournament. Wright State, whom Robert Morris defeated twice, is the regular-season league champion, but RMU has an opportunity to lock down second place and a home game with a victory. Oakland University is currently tied with the Colonials for second place.
Robert Morris comes into the game against Cleveland State on a six-game win streak and after its 73-62 defeat of Detroit Mercy on Wednesday, the Colonials have eclipsed the 20-win mark for the season (20-10 and 12-7). This is the second consecutive season that RMU has won at least 20 games during the regular season and the 13th time that it has reached the 20-win mark. Winning 20 games this season is extremely impressive, considering that the Colonials lost their entire starting five from last season to the transfer portal. Ryan Prather, who scored a career-high 29 points in Wednesday’s victory, was the only returning player who saw significant action last season as the team’s sixth man.
The win over Detroit Mercy, which came into the game in a three-way tie for second place with RMU and Oakland, began with a slow moving first half when the Titans put on an impressive defensive display. Detroit created a nine-point lead and held Prather to only three points, but the Colonials crawled back to trail by only two points at the half, 28-26.
Detroit still led 50-47 with 7:10 remaining in the second half, but the Colonials went on an 18-4 run to take a 65-54 lead. Detroit cut the lead to six points with 1:29 remaining, before the Colonials hit key baskets down the stretch to secure the win.
Robert Morris poured in 47 points in the half, primarily on the play of Prather, who scored 26 of his 29 points in the final 20 minutes. Prather added three steals for the Colonials, who wound up with nine steals as a team and caused 12 turnovers, scoring 23 points off them. RMU also connected on 17 of 22 free-throw attempts and outrebounded the Titans 37-32.
DeSean Goode and Nikolaos Chitikoudis had double-doubles. Goode scored 14 points and added 12 rebounds, while Chitikoudis added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Ta’Zir Smith chipped in an additional 12 points in the victory.
Robert Morris’ win broke Detroit Mercy’s four-game win streak, as the Titans are now 14-14 overall and 11-8 in the Horizon League.
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