Moon Township, Pa. – Oakland shot 55.6 percent (25-for-45) from the field and three Golden Grizzlies reached double figures in a 74-53 victory over the
Robert Morris University men's basketball team Saturday at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Tied, 25-25, at the 4:55 mark of the first half, Oakland (9-1) closed the stanza on a 12-3 surge to grab a 37-28 advantage at the break. Isaiah Brock provided a pair of dunks for the Golden Grizzlies, while Martez Walker scored four points.
Stevie Clark converted a pair at the free-throw line to open the scoring in the second half and give Oakland their first double-digit advantage, 39-28, and the lead eventually swelled to 67-41 with 6:54 to play.
RMU (3-8) shot just 26.7 percent (8-for-30) from the field in the second half and 31.6 percent (18-for-57) overall.
"It's a disappointing result," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "You have to give Oakland credit. They score and they defend at such a high level. I thought tonight was a chance to go up against a good team and see how much we've grown, but we fell short. Everything was a struggle. Offensively. Defensively. You could feel it in the pregame shoot around and again on the bench. We just didn't have enough guys together tonight."
The Colonials opened the game with a 10-5 lead in the first four and-a-half minutes of the contest as sophomore guard
Matty McConnell scored six points and senior guard
Kavon Stewart provided a pair of layups.
Oakland charged back to tie it, 10-10, but a three-pointer from freshman guard
Clive Allen pushed Robert Morris back in front, 13-10. The 15 minutes featured six ties and five lead changes before the Golden Grizzlies used their run to end the half and take control.
"Good teams try to drive a wedge into the opposition," Toole said. "Guys either pour back into the team or withdraw. Unfortunately, we withdrew tonight. Our challenge as coaches is to get that fight out of our guys. If you are pouring yourself into the team, that's where you find comfort and solace."
Stewart was the only member of the Colonials to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and a steal. Allen chipped in nine points, while McConnell finished with eight.
Jalen Hayes led Oakland with 16 points and seven rebounds. Clark and Walker each contributed 13 points, with Clark registering three assists and four steals.
Robert Morris now has a week off before its final non-conference road game of the 2016-17 campaign Saturday, Dec. 17, with a 4:30 p.m. tip at Virginia.
