Philadelphia, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened a two-game road trip Saturday with an 82-69 loss to Drexel at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. In dropping their second consecutive road game, the Colonials saw their overall record on the season slip to 4-4.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Robert Morris scored the first seven points of the contest as junior forward
Yannis Mendy provided a pair of layups while sophomore forward
Charles Bain connected for a three-pointer. The Colonials knocked down 10 of their first 16 shots (62.5%) from the field in grabbing leads of 9-1, 12-4 and 17-10. However, the Colonials were able to convert just three of their final 16 shots (18.8%) from the floor the rest of the half.
MAKING A RUN
Drexel took advantage of the shooting woes for RMU, tying the game for the first time, 19-19, with 9:32 to go before the break. The Colonials weathered the storm, pushing their lead to 27-23 after a layup from sophomore forward
Charles Bain, but a 12-2 run gave the Dragons a 35-29 advantage.
QUOTABLE
"Our defense was the problem today," head coach
Andrew Toole. "I think in some aspects, it came too easy on the first couple of possessions, and then guys let down their guard. We just didn't continue to guard. That's where the game was lost."
THREE-POINT DEFENSE
Robert Morris entered Saturday's game ranked second in the Northeast Conference in three-point field goal percent defense (.320) and held the Dragons to a 1-for-7 performance from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes of action. Drexel knocked down its first five shots from deep to open the second half and finished 7-for-12 (58.3%) after the break and 8-for-19 (42.1%) overall.
HELD IN CHECK
Senior forward
Malik Petteway, who had scored in double figures in four consecutive games, didn't hit his first field goal until the 11:20 mark of the second half and finished with just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't have the connectivity that we've had in recent games on offense, and we didn't have the effort on the defensive side that we've had, too," Toole said. "We had to be able to finish possessions out, and we weren't able to do that on either end of the floor."
THE LEADERBOARD
All five starters score in double figures for Drexel, led by Alihan Demir, who finished with 17 points. He shot 6-for-15 from the field, including 1-for-2 from deep, while knocking down each of his four attempts at the stripe. Senior guard
Josh Williams paced RMU with 15 points and also finished with a team-high five rebounds. Bain and senior guard
Matty McConnell each finished with 14 points.
DIME A DOZEN
Sophomore
Jon Williams dished out a season-high eight assists against just one turnover, but RMU dropped its first game in two seasons when the point guard dishes out at least seven assists in a contest. The Colonials had entered the game a perfect 5-0, including 1-0 this season.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris concludes a two-game road trip Wednesday, Dec. 5, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y.
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