Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team concluded the home portion of its non-conference schedule Tuesday with an 83-79 victory over Central Michigan at Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials erased an 11-point deficit and notched their second win in a row.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Kevin McKay converted in the paint with a layup in the opening minutes of the second half to give the Chippewas (7-5) a 48-37 advantage, their largest of the contest. RMU (4-8) responded with a 9-2 surge to close to within 50-46 as
Josh Williams hit a three-pointer while
Jon Williams added a pair of his own from beyond the arc. McKay stemmed the tide with a three-point play, but the Colonials scored the next nine points of the contest to grab a 55-53 lead. Forward
AJ Bramah scored six consecutive points, including a dunk that tied it, 53-53, followed by another slam to push the Colonials in front.
QUOTABLE
"Central Michigan is a really good team, and they can really score the ball," Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "I thought our guys did a good job of staying with it. We got back and guarded the way we needed to in the second half. We did a better job of being physical whenever they got in the paint. When you make some shots it's a little bit easier to continue to work and fight, but I think they proved to themselves if they keep doing the right things and keep working good things can happen."
CONNECTING
Robert Morris shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) from the field in the second half in erasing an 11-point deficit, including 50 percent (7-for-14) from deep. Overall the Colonials knocked down 12 three-pointers, the fourth time in 2019-20 RMU has hit at least 10 triples in a game.
Josh Williams shot 5-for-9 from deep and led all scorers in the contest with 24 points while establishing a career high with eight rebounds. He also contributed three assists and a pair of steals.
DIRECTING TRAFFIC
Guards
Jon Williams and
Dante Treacy combined for 10 assists in the victory against just three turnovers in helping the Colonials move offensively. Treacy tied a career high with 14 points and added five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Treacy's most important play of the contest, however, came with 1:58 to play, when he blocked a shot by Devontae Lane in the paint. Williams was fouled on the defensive rebound, setting up his march to the free-throw line in the final two minutes.
QUOTABLE
"It's been about coming together and fighting as a team," redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams said. "We stuck together and had a certain amount of cohesiveness that we needed to pull the game out today. Guys were feeding off good offensive performances, and that helped us out defensively. It's good all the way around."
BENCH SPARK
Bramah was a key component for Robert Morris off the bench, scoring 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor while grabbing seven caroms. The reserves for the Colonials scored 25 points against Central Michigan, as sophomore guard
Jalen Hawkins added nine points. In the last nine games, RMU has received at least 25 points from its bench six times, with the Colonials 4-2 (.667) in those contests.
UP NEXT
The final non-conference game of the 2019-20 season comes Saturday, Dec. 21, with a 3:00 p.m. ET tip against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
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