Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team continued a four-game homestand Saturday on Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center, dropping a 53-49 decision to Merrimack.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In a game that featured 10 ties and 17 lead changes, a layup from Jaleel Lord of the Warriors with 1:44 to play gave Merrimack (11-8 / 5-1 NEC) the lead for good. The Colonials twice had an opportunity to tie it in the final 1:28 of action, but sophomore guard
Dante Treacy and redshirt sophomore guard
Josh Williams each missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. Lord would seal the win for the Warriors with a pair at the stripe with 11.6 seconds remaining.
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"I don't think we were playing at the pace we should've been," Treacy said. "They slowed us down and dictated the pace. They put the brakes on us. We have that pit in our stomach again. We just have to lock in mentally and be ready to go Monday."
FOUR SQUARE
Junior forward
AJ Bramah paced the Colonials (8-10 / 4-1 NEC) against Merrimack by matching a career high for the fourth consecutive game. He finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw line. He also grabbed four rebounds. Bramah has reached double figures in 13 consecutive games.
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"We just missed shots," Williams said. "It's tough, because they have active guards that do a good job of anticipating. A lot of times you're trying to ball fake to speed them up, but they were active. All of the shots that we missed were rhythm shots. We just missed shots. Did we screen well enough to get other teammates open? Did we attack the rim enough? Can we play better defense? There are so many things that go into being a winning team."
STREAKS SNAPPED
Robert Morris had a 21-game winning streak dating back to the 2016-17 campaign snapped when holding opponents under 60 points with the setback to Merrimack. In 10 seasons under RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole, the Colonials are 68-8 (.895) when turning the trick. The Colonials also failed to hit five three-pointers in a game for the first time on the 2019-20 season, snapping a streak of 28 consecutive games dating to last year. Robert Morris finished 2-for-15 (13.3%) from beyond the arc, with
Josh Williams and Treacy each hitting triples.
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"We were unable to get any rhythm offensively at any time," Toole said. "Give Merrimack credit. They came out and controlled the tempo. Disappointing lesson that we'll have to learn and try to grow from. We were slow to organize and slow to our cuts. The ball was sticking. The way we shot it last weekend was a little fool's gold."
CONVERTING
RMU shot 57.9 percent (11-for-19) from the field in the second half but were just 1-for-8 (12.5%) in the same time frame from beyond the arc. Overall, the Colonials knocked down 41.3 percent (19-for-46) of their opportunities. Bramah was the only Robert Morris student-athlete to score in double figures.
Josh Williams scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior guard
Sayveon McEwen scored nine points off the bench. Senior forward
Yannis Mendy finished with six points and a game-high eight rebounds for the Colonials.
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"It will be a great litmus test of how tough we are," Toole said on the quick turnaround for Monday's game. "We sat on some wins for a week and then didn't come out and play the way you needed to play. Now we have to sit on a loss with a quick turnaround against a really good, aggressive scoring Sacred Heart team. We have to wash this off pretty quick, and it has to fuel you to come back, prepare yourself better and get locked in."
UP NEXT
Robert Morris concludes a four-game homestand Monday, Jan. 20, with a 5:00 p.m. tip against Sacred Heart in a game that can be seen live on CBS Sports Network.
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