Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball concluded its 2018-19 season Sunday with a 77-70 loss to Presbyterian at the North Athletic Complex in the second round of the 2019 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). The Colonials conclude the campaign with an overall record of 18-17.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Senior forward
Malik Petteway hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half to give RMU a 44-31 advantage, but Presbyterian (20-15) opened the second half with an 18-0 run to take a 49-44 advantage with 15:52 left in the contest. The Blue Hose opened the second half by converting seven of their first eight shots from the field and got three-pointers from four different student-athletes. Presbyterian finished 14-for-31 (45.2%) from beyond the arc in the contest.
QUOTABLE
"Disappointing being up at the half and not being able to maintain the lead or win the game," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "In the first four minutes of the second half we didn't play good offense. We had one turnover at the half and we turned it over I think five times in the first four minutes of the second half, and that fueled their run. We weren't able to play good offense, which didn't allow us to set our defense. We just didn't get the job done on the defensive side."
THE FOUR-YEAR SENIOR
Senior guard
Matty McConnell finished with 10 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals in his final game in a Robert Morris uniform. He appeared in career game No. 129 against Presbyterian, which ranks ninth in program history. McConnell also tied former guard Jeremy Chappell (2005-09) for second all-time for career starts (120).
MORE ON MATTY
McConnell also joins Chappell as the only players in program history to eclipse career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 steals and 200 three-pointers. McConnell finishes his career 18th on the scoring chart with 1,156 points and also compiled career totals of 520 caroms, 304 assists, 241 steals and 202 three-pointers.
QUOTABLE
"I knew it was going to come to an end soon, but I didn't want it to come to an end today," McConnell said. "It hasn't hit me yet. I still feel like I have to wake up for practice tomorrow. I told the guys I tried to lay the groundwork for them. I think the coaches helped me do that. This team will be back next year. I know I'm gonna miss this place. Andy showed me the ways. I wouldn't be the player I am today without him. He's always put me in the right position to be successful, and I'm forever thankful for that."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials fell behind, 17-12, early but used a 20-6 surge over the final 7:45 of the first half to grab a 44-31 advantage at halftime. Sophomore guard
Jon Williams pushed Robert Morris in front, 27-25, with a three-pointer to ignite the run, while sophomore
Koby Thomas provided a pair of dunks, including an alley oop off a feed from senior guard
Josh Williams. Senior forward
Malik Petteway capped the run with his first career three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in the first half.
BALANCED SCORESHEET
Five different Colonials reached double figures in scoring, led by sophomore forward
Charles Bain, who registered his first career double-double. Bain finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Both
Josh Williams and
Jon Williams each scored 11 points for RMU, while Thomas added 10.
JUST A BIT SHORT
Senior guard
Josh Williams concluded the 2018-19 campaign as RMU's leading scorer but finished just shy of eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau. He ends the year with 506 points and is just five short entering his final season of eligibility in 2019-20. In two seasons with Akron before transferring to Robert Morris, Williams scored 489 points.
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