Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team concluded a four-game road trip Saturday, dropping a 66-62 decision to Marquette in Milwaukee, Wisc., at Fiserv Forum.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In the opening minutes of the second half, the Golden Eagles (3-1) used a 9-1 spurt to grab a 28-21 advantage after trailing at halftime, 20-19. Senior guard
Josh Williams stemmed the tide with a three-pointer, and RMU (1-6) scored the next eight points of the contest to jump back in front, 29-28. The Colonials grabbed the lead on a dunk from forward
AJ Bramah.
TIDES TURNED
Marquette responded to the Bramah jam with a 15-2 run to open up a 42-31 lead. Ed Morrow was clutch off the bench for the Golden Eagles, converting in the paint on consecutive possessions to give Marquette its double-digit advantage. The biggest lead of the contest for the Golden Eagles came with 7:35 remaining, when a jumper from Brendan Bailey opened up a 48-35 lead.
NO QUIT
The Colonials kept fighting, using a 12-3 run to trim their deficit to 53-50 with 3:07 to play. Senior guard
Sayveon McEwen scored five points to pace RMU, while Bramah converted a three-point play. Marquette, however, was able to keep Robert Morris at bay, pushing its lead to 59-51 after a pair of free throws from Theo John.
QUOTABLE
"Proud of the effort, especially from a number of guys," Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "Being close is nice, but that's not what we're here for. We're here to win. There are probably five possessions you want back, but I thought we put forth a gutty, tough defensive performance. We turned them over 21 times, and that's pretty remarkable. We need to keep working and build off this."
DISNEY+
Sophomore guard
Dante Treacy wrapped up a solid road trip by leading the Colonials against Marquette with a career-high 14 points. He also finished with four rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. During the four-game swing away from home, Treacy averaged 12.5 points, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals while shooting 48.6 percent (18-for-37) from the field and knocking down eight of his nine attempts (88.9%) at the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE
"Dante was incredible defensively and aggressive offensively," Toole said. "He's really growing into a solid player for us. When you have toughness, good things happen. The old adage is the game honors toughness. He has great spirit. He's really beginning to understand what he needs to do to help our team. We want to keep building on that."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Robert Morris scored 21 points off 21 Marquette turnovers, outscoring the Golden Eagles in the category, 21-11. The Colonials also held a 20-13 edge in bench points and were only outscored, 28-26, in points in the paint. Individually, McEwen tied a career high with 11 points off the bench, shooting 4-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
QUOTABLE
"We want guys to be aggressive, locked in and engaged," Toole said. "I think sometimes guys' fear holds them back from playing the right way. The more aggressive you are the better you are. Guys have to understand that."
UP NEXT
RMU returns home to Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center Wednesday, Nov. 27, to host Geneva in a 7:00 p.m. tip.
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