Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team concluded play in the Kentucky Classic Friday by dropping its 2021-22 home opener, a 74-70 overtime setback to Mount St. Mary's at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials dip to 0-4 overall on the 2021-22 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Mount shot 65 percent (13-for-20) from the field in the second half in erasing a 17-point deficit, using a 15-0 run to tie the game, 51-51, with 8:20 remaining. Josh Reaves opened the surge with a three-pointer, while Malik Jefferson tied it with a putback off an offensive rebound. Mount St. Mary's owned a 44-38 advantage on the glass Friday, including a 12-11 cushion on the offensive boards. Mount grabbed its first lead since the opening basket of the game, 52-51, when Mezie Offurum hit the back end of a pair of free throws, but RMU found a spark, with sophomore guard
Enoch Cheeks hitting a three-pointer with 5:49 to go that gave the Colonials a 55-52 lead.
END OF REGULATION
Fifth-year guard
Rasheem Dunn hit the front end of a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give the Colonials a 62-60 edge, and on the ensuing possession for Mount St. Mary's, Dunn picked the pocket of Jalen Benjamin. Dunn was fouled by Deandre Thomas, but Dunn hit just one of two at the stripe, pushing the lead for the Colonials to 63-60. The second attempt from Dunn was off the mark and rebounded by Offurum, who found Thomas in the corner as time was winding down. Thomas buried the three, tying the game with 1.3 seconds left to help send the game to overtime.
FREE BASKETBALL
Nana Opoku pushed the Mount in front in the extra frame with a pair of free throws at the 2:52 mark for the first points of overtime, and his jumper in the paint with 1:25 to go gave Mount St. Mary's a 67-63 cushion. The Colonials didn't score their first point of overtime until there was 1:16 to go, when junior guard
Michael Green III hit the back end of a pair at the chalk. The Mount sealed the win at the stripe, knocking down seven of their eight opportunities in overtime and 70.6 percent (24-for-34) overall. RMU, which entered the game having shot 84.6 percent (33-for-39) at the free-throw line in its first three games of the year, finished just 13-for-24 (54.2 percent) at the line against the Mount.
QUOTABLE
"Credit the Mount and their ability to fight back," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "We've had great battles with them for a long, long time, and we know they're never gonna quit. They just beat us up in the second half. I have to figure out a way to get our guys to understand that every possession matters for 40 minutes every time you step on the floor. I'm not doing a good enough job getting our guys to that point. We have to figure it out some way, somehow."
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Senior forward
Kahliel Spear notched his first double-double of the 2021-22 campaign Friday against the Mount, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 5-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-7 at the free-throw line and also added an assist and a block. In the opening 20 minutes of action, Spear finished with nine points and eight rebounds as the Colonials grabbed a 35-22 edge at the break. He was one of three Colonials to score in double figures, with Dunn pacing RMU with 18 points and Green adding 11. Benjamin scored a game-high 19 points for the Mount on the strength of a 9-for-10 performance at the free-throw line.
QUOTABLE
"We're good when we're not tired, and then when we get tired we get not good," Toole said. "We didn't respond very well when the adversity hit. We had good ball movement and were active defensively early in the game, and then as we got tired we weren't as active. We also had some costly misses down the stretch from the free-throw line and weren't able to capitalize on our opportunity."
UP NEXT
RMU returns to the road for its next three games, beginning Saturday, Nov. 27, with a 2:00 p.m. tip at Davidson. The swing also includes RMU's first two games in the Horizon League as the Colonials will open their December slate with a Midwest trip that includes contests at Green Bay (12/2) and Milwaukee (12/4).
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