Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened a two-game set with Northern Kentucky Friday at the UPMC Events Center, dropping an 81-76 decision to the Norse. The Colonials slipped to 3-6 (.333) overall on the 2020-21 campaign with the loss, including 2-4 (.333) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trailing, 33-31, entering the second half, NKU (6-8 / 4-5 #HLMBB) hit its first six shots from the floor after the break and overall in the second half shot 72 percent (18-for-25). The Norse connected on just one three-pointer in nine attempts in the first half but finished 8-for-14 (57.1%) from downtown after halftime. The Norse held their biggest lead with 3:43 remaining, as a triple from David Böhm helped Northern Kentucky open up a 76-63 advantage.
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"We did not have any answers on the defensive side in the second half," RMU Pat Gallagher
Andrew Toole said. "We really have to attack the defensive side of the ball and figure out how to get a stop, because that really did us in tonight. They got wherever they wanted to get off the bounce. We battled, but we have to be more detailed and make the plays."
ONE POSSESSION
Senior forward
Charles Bain went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line with 7:39 remaining that helped the Colonials trim their deficit to 63-60, and on the next possession for NKU Marques Warrick missed a jumper. RMU had a chance to tie, but a three-pointer from Bain was short, and the Norse responded on their next possession with a triple from Trevon Faulkner to ignite a 13-3 run to decide the game. Warrick scored a team-high 20 points as one of four players in double figures for Northern Kentucky. Faulkner added 18 points and five assists, while Böhm scored 16 off the bench.
ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE
Senior forward
AJ Bramah continues to be at the forefront of the RMU offense, as he nabbed game-high honors in scoring with 27 points. He shot 10-for-16 from the field and was 7-for-8 at the free-throw line. He also added five rebounds, a career-high five assists and two steals. Bramah extended his streak of double-figure scoring games to 14 dating back to last season and is providing a team-high 21.8 points per game on the 2020-21 season.
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"AJ has had a great season so far," Toole said. "It's been a challenge with some of the pauses, and it's been hard to get guys and keep guys in rhythm. He's been really able to excel in spite of that, which is a credit to the work he's been putting in. We just need some more guys to join him. We got some good contributions from some other guys, but not enough of them. We need some more guys to come in and have a positive impact on the game. We need to get some energy from our bench."
THE RESERVE CLAUSE
Northern Kentucky's bench outscored the RMU reserves, 20-11, with freshman guard
Trayden Williams scoring six points off the bench for the Colonials. In addition to game-high honors from Bramah, freshman guard
Kam Farris scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds, while senior guard
Jon Williams finished with 13 points and three assists. Junior guard
Dante Treacy added nine points and six assists, knocking down three of his four attempts from beyond the arc.
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"We have to keep building that scar tissue," senior guard
Jon Williams said. "It's conference play, so the difference is a couple possessions. It's really about being the more detailed team. I didn't like the way we played defensively. Losing has to hurt, and we have to be able to pull out wins when it's a couple of possessions left in a game."
UP NEXT
The Colonials conclude their two-game set with Northern Kentucky with a 5:00 p.m. tip Saturday at the UPMC Events Center.
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