Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened its 2020-21 season Saturday with a 75-57 victory over Point Park at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials improved to 21-24 (.467) all-time in season openers, including a mark of 4-2 (.667) in season-opening contests at home under RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU jumped out to a 7-0 advantage, as senior forward
AJ Bramah scored the first four points of the contest, while senior forward
Charles Bain connected from deep. The lead swelled to 20-6 at the 12:44 mark of the first half after a layup from Bramah, and the biggest lead in the first half for the Colonials, 27-9, came with 11:12 to go before the break when Bain drained another three-pointer.
QUOTABLE
"I think there were some things that we did tonight that I definitely liked, and there was certainly a lot we can get better at," Toole said. "We need to find some consistency on both ends of the ball. A great tape that we're going to be able to teach off of. I'm very appreciative to be able to get on the court and play the game tonight."
PUSHING IT
RMU used a 14-5 surge in the second half to grab its largest lead of the contest, 63-35, with 10:45 remaining. Junior
Cameron Wilbon, returning after missing the 2019-20 season due to injury, helped ignite the run with a floating jumper in the lane and was one of six Colonials to score in the salvo. It also included the first career three-pointer from freshman guard
Kam Farris and four points from sophomore forward
Olisa Ngonadi.
BULL
Bramah led three scorers in double figures in the triumph, scoring 10 of his game-high 18 points in the first half. He also finished with seven rebounds, an assist and a steal while shooting 8-for-15 from the field. Dating to last season, Bramah has scored in double figures in six consecutive contests as well as 29 of his last 30 games.
QUOTABLE
"We have a lot of freshmen, so I know that there's going to be hiccups," Bramah said. "I just have to keep motivating and encouraging my teammates. We still have a lot of growing to do, but I'm still working on that aspect as a leader. Practice is a huge setting for us. They're supposed to be harder than the games. We tried to come out with energy tonight and make big plays."
GROWTH SPURT
Off the bench, sophomore
Olisa Ngonadi saw the most extensive action of his young career, registering career highs in points (13), rebounds (8) and blocks (3) in 18 and-a-half minutes of work. In his freshman campaign in 2019-20, Ngonadi played a total of 29 minutes across seven games. He also showed an adept touch at the free-throw line against the Pioneers, knocking down five of his six attempts at the stripe.
ADD ANOTHER TO THE LIST
Guard
Enoch Cheeks became the 11th true freshman in program history to earn a start in their collegiate debut when he was a member of the starting five in the win over Point Park. Included in that list are seven Colonials who have started their first game as a true freshman under Toole. Cheeks played 21 minutes in the victory over the Pioneers, scoring four points, grabbing four rebounds and rejecting a pair of shots. He's the first rookie to start in his collegiate debut for RMU since 2017, when
Jon Williams and
Koby Thomas each started at Ohio State (11/10/17).
INTERESTING
RMU outscored Point Park, 46-24, in points in the paint as well as in points off turnovers, 30-18. A key reason for the latter was freshman guard
Trayden Williams, who in his collegiate debut led the Colonials in both assists (6) and steals (5) off the bench. RMU finished with 17 assists on its 31 field goals and forced Point Park into 22 turnovers in the contest.
QUOTABLE
"You want to have that sustained effort throughout 40 minutes," Toole said. "There were some guys getting their first experience at Division I basketball, so there is going to be some jitters. We could clip the game tonight, and clip a practice clip, and it would be exactly the same. It's the old adage that you play the way you practice. We need more guys keeping the intensity high in practice and being detailed in the execution of our defensive formula, because that will show up in the game."
UP NEXT
The Colonials travel to Morgantown, W. Va., for a 7:00 p.m. tip Wednesday, Dec. 5, against West Virginia.
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