Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team dropped an 85-65 decision to Bowling Green in non-conference action Friday at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials slip to 1-1 on the 2020-21 with the setback.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Playing its first game in almost two weeks, RMU opened the game without hitting its first field goal of the contest until the 10:42 mark of the first half, when senior forward
Charles Bain converted in the lane on a feed from senior guard
Jon Williams. At that point RMU trailed, 16-7. The bucket from Bain, however, seemed to energize the Colonials, who used a 13-4 surge to close their deficit to 20-18 at the 7:27 mark of the first half. The run forced the Falcons to call timeout.
STIFF ARM
Senior forward
AJ Bramah nailed a jumper with 4:44 to go before the break to close RMU's deficit to 28-27, one of six times in the final seven and-a-half minutes of the first half where it was a one-possession game. Each time, however, Bowling Green (5-2) came up with a big shot to keep the Colonials at bay. Justin Turner, who led all scorers in the contest with 24 points while also adding 11 assists, hit a floating jumper in the lane with just under four minutes left in the first half, while his triple with 1:26 remaining before the break gave the Falcons a 41-35 edge.
QUOTABLE
"Every time there was a little bit of a chink in our armor, BG took great advantage," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "A miscommunication, a step too slow, a step too late, a step soon, and those are things you need to experience to get your team to where it needs to be. There were a number of defensive breakdowns in the second half that seemed to determine the game. But credit Bowling Green. They're a really good team."
CS1K
Friday's contest marked the 1,000th RMU men's basketball broadcast for The Voice of the Colonials,
Chris Shovlin. A native of Midland, Pa., Shovlin called his first game at RMU Nov. 28, 1987, when the Colonials played at the University of Pittsburgh.
QUOTABLE
"I think Shov is as good as it gets," Toole said. "I watch a lot of games on TV, on internet. Listen to games on radio. I mean Shov is an absolute pros pro. We're fortunate to have him. His loyalty and dedication to Robert Morris is incredible. Not to knock anybody else, but there's times when you turn on another broadcast, and it's just not the same quality. Shov is an incredible supporter of our program, and it's been an honor to be associated with him and the work that he does, because he's the best."
AT THE RIM
Despite missing his first three shots from the field, senior forward
AJ Bramah finished 8-for-12 shooting from the floor and paced RMU for the second consecutive game to open the campaign with 20 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and notched an assist and a steal.
Jon Williams, junior guard
Dante Treacy and rookie guards
Enoch Cheeks and
Trayden Williams each scored eight points for the Colonials, who shot 47.1 percent (24-for-51) from the field on the contest.
QUOTABLE
"Practice definitely helps a lot, and not being able to practice obviously we weren't able to cover everything that wanted to in order to play at the level we're used to,"
Jon Williams said. "At the same time, that's no excuse. That's why I'm constantly on guys, including our seniors and leaders, to stay on people. At the end of day we want to win. We have to go out and compete like we want to win."
UP NEXT
RMU takes to the road for the first time on the 2020-21 season Sunday, Dec. 20, with a 2:00 p.m. tip against Marshall in Huntington, W. Va., at the Cam Henderson Center.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
