Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened its first season in the Horizon League Saturday with a 102-88 road victory over Purdue Fort Wayne at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center. The Colonials even their overall record on the 2020-21 campaign to 2-2 (.500) and improve to 1-0 in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials used a 25-13 run over eight minutes in the first half that turned a 20-14 deficit into a 39-31 advantage with 3:40 remaining before halftime. It was a balanced attack offensively, as senior guard
Jon Williams knocked down a trio of three-pointers, while senior forward
AJ Bramah scored six points. Junior guard
Cameron Wilbon and freshman guard
Kam Farris, who earned his first collegiate start, each added five points. During the surge the Colonials converted 75 percent (9-of-12) of their shots from the floor, including a 5-for-6 performance from beyond the arc.
REV THE ENGINE
The 102 points scored by the Colonials in their win over the Mastodons are the most RMU has scored in a conference opener in program history. The previous high for points for the Colonials in a league opener came Dec. 10, 2005, when RMU posted a 90-85 road victory over Quinnipiac. In addition, the 102 points are the most scored by the Colonials against an NCAA Division I opponent under RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole.
QUOTABLE
"The key itself was having practices, being able to try and build some rhythm back and remind them about the things that are important when it comes to winning games," Toole said. "We still have a long way to go, but there was great fight in our guys tonight. Obviously we made a ton of shots tonight, which always makes thing look a lot better. I'm glad we were able to get the win and I'm glad we were able to keep fighting and figure some stuff out."
EVEN FLOW
Senior forward
AJ Bramah led five Colonials in double figures in the triumph over Purdue Fort Wayne with a career-high 28 points while also grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. He shot 11-for-18 from the floor and was 6-for-7 at the free-throw line. All five starters scored in double figures for RMU, as guards
Jon Williams (17),
Kam Farris (17) and
Dante Treacy (10) and forward
Kahliel Spear (13) joined Bramah to combine for 85 points while shooting 31-for-51 (60.7 percent) from the floor, including 12-for-22 (54.5 percent) from beyond the arc. As a team, the Colonials finished with an even 60 percent (39-for-65) field goal percentage, their highest since converting 66.2 percent (43-for-65) in a 108-51 win over Hood (12/29/18).
A FRESH TWIST
Earning their first career starts in an RMU uniform Saturday against the Mastodons were a pair of Colonials. Freshman guard
Kam Farris was a member of the starting five after not appearing in the previous two games, while junior
Kahliel Spear started at forward in the place of senior
Charles Bain, who missed the game due to injury.
PERFECTION
Farris produced a shooting night he won't forget anytime soon. Making his first collegiate start in RMU's debut in the Horizon League, Farris knocked down each of his six attempts from the floor, including a 5-for-5 performance from beyond the arc, in registering his first collegiate double-figure scoring game. Farris is just the third student-athlete in program history to produce a perfect shooting night on the road, joining former Colonials Tony Lee (2004-08) and
Jimmy Langhurst (2006-10). Lee went 8-for-8 from the floor and scored 17 points in an 81-77 win @ Canisius (12/20/06), while the following year Langhurst went 7-for-7 from the field in scoring 19 points in an 88-61 victory @ Florida International (11/29/07).
PERFECTION PART DEUX
Farris is also the fourth RMU student-athlete to shoot perfect from beyond the arc in a road game and the first since former guard Coron Williams (2/19/11) went 5-for-5 from international waters in a 61-60 win @ Monmouth (2/19/11). Langhurst was also 5-for-5 from the three-point line @ FIU, while former guard Bubby Donnelly (1991-95) went 7-for-7 in scoring 21 points in an 80-59 victory @ Rider (1/10/94).
QUOTABLE
"(Kam's) performance in practice has certainly improved," Toole said. "We got a glimpse of him with Jon, AJ, Dante and Kahliel in practice the last couple of days. We just thought that group had a really good chemistry and flow to them offensively. Kam made some big shots and had opportunities. I thought it was certainly a really positive group on the court for us the majority of the night they played together."
DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Guards
Jon Williams and
Dante Treacy directed the offense to near perfection for RMU in its Horizon League debut, with the duo combining for 18 assists while suffering just three turnovers. Both Williams and Treacy finished with nine assists in the win. Williams connected for five of his eight attempts from beyond the arc and on the 2020-21 campaign is shooting 52.2 percent (12-for-23) from downtown while owning 23 dimes against five turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 4.60.
UP NEXT
RMU and Purdue Fort Wayne complete its two-game series Sunday with a 5:00 p.m. tip at the Gates Sports Center.
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