Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team had its six-game winning streak snapped Saturday with a 72-71 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson on Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials slip to 15-12 overall on the 2019-20 campaign, including 11-3 in the Northeast Conference.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Junior forward
AJ Bramah gave RMU a 71-70 lead with 8.4 seconds remaining by knocking down a pair of free throws. On the ensuing possession for the Knights, Jahlil Jenkins drove the lane and missed a floater, with Kaleb Bishop sticking the putback to push FDU on top. Robert Morris called timeout, and out of the break redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams took a charge before a desperation attempt from sophomore guard
Dante Treacy was off the mark.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't do what we needed to do defensively down the stretch," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "It was a letdown on our part. That second shot kills you. We did a good job on Jenkins, and Bishop was able to come in and get the tip. Credit to FDU for continuing to fight and make some plays down the stretch. That's why they're the defending champion from last year. Unfortunately the second half was more their pace than our pace, and they were able to come out on top."
A GAME OF RUNS
Robert Morris owned a 65-58 lead with 3:34 remaining after a jumper from
Josh Williams, but Fairleigh Dickinson closed the contest on a 14-6 spurt to grab the win. In a game of runs, RMU's biggest lead came with 6:22 to go in the first half, 28-19, after the Knights had owned a 14-6 lead in the first 5:07 of the contest.
BENCH SPARK
Robert Morris once again got a spark from its bench, with junior forward
AJ Bramah, sophomore guard
Jalen Hawkins and senior guard
Sayveon McEwen combining for 33 points and nine rebounds. Bramah paced the Colonials with 17 points on the strength of a perfect 7-for-7 performance at the free-throw line, extending his streak for consecutive double-figure scoring games to 22. Hawkins and McEwen each added eight points. The RMU bench outscored the FDU reserves, 33-8.
THE SECOND HALF SURGE
Fairleigh Dickinson shot 50 percent (15-for-30) from the field in the second half and 46.6 percent (27-for-58) overall. Arguably the biggest basket of the contest came courtesy of Xzavier Malone-Key, who drained a three-pointer from the corner with 3:16 to go that trimmed the deficit for the Knights to 65-61. Jahlil Jenkins, who scored a game-high 21 points and was one of four players in double figures for the Knights, followed by hitting a triple from the top of the key to trim RMU's lead to 65-64 and set up the fireworks at the end of the game.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris returns to the road with its third game in six games, which is part of a stretch in which the Colonials will play five contests in 11 days, Tuesday, Feb. 17, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Saint Francis U at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pa.
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