Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team continued a five-game homestand at the UPMC Events Center Friday, dropping a one-point decision to Horizon League frontrunner Cleveland State, 78-77. The Colonials slipped to 2-12 (.143) overall, including 0-5 in #HLMBB.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 60-60, with just over five minutes to go after a pair of free throws from senior forward
Kahliel Spear, Jayson Woodrich connected from the corner for a triple to push the Vikings in front, 63-60. D'Moi Hodge would extend the lead to 65-60 after a pair of free throws, with Cleveland State securing the win thanks to a 10-for-11 performance at the stripe in the final 4:26 of action. The Colonials came back to tie it twice, including 68-68 after a jumper from junior forward
Jaron Williams at 2:45 and again, 70-70, on a layup from Spear at 1:59, but the Vikings were able to keep RMU at bay thanks to its work at the line. Yahel Hill knocked down the final two free throws with 14.2 seconds to go to give Cleveland State a 78-75 edge, and after a busted play bringing the ball up the court, sophomore guard
Kam Farris settled for a layup with 2.1 seconds remaining. The Vikings tossed the ball the length of the court to seal the win.
QUOTABLE
"Disappointed that we were one point short, but really proud of the fight the guys showed for 40 minutes," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "That from here on out has to be a non-negotiable. We also have to clean up a couple possessions where we had some breakdowns that were really, really critical. There were too many possessions late where we were a step slow or a second short. This game and Saint Francis PA were probably the two games where we played as close to 40 minutes as possible with the requisite effort to win Division I basketball games. That has to be non-negotiable as we continue through the rest of the year."
BENCH SPARK
Cleveland State grabbed a 16-9 lead six and-a-half minutes into the contest, but RMU's second wave provided a spark. Junior forward
Brandon Stone provided a layup off an offensive carom that ignited a 10-0 burst to give the Colonials a 19-16 lead. Stone and Williams each provided four points, while junior forward
Justin Winston knocked down a jumper. In the first half, each of the 37 points scored by the Colonials came from its cast of forwards, which combined to shoot 77.2 percent (17-for-22) from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Spear finished with 15 points in the first half, converting seven of his eight shots from the field.
QUOTABLE
"Some of the uncertainty that has gone on in the last two years makes it challenging to create any continuity and makes it challenging to build the right habits," Toole said. "You show up to practice and are you going to have nine today or could you have 10 to go five on five? Are you going to get shut down? Is someone going into quarantine? You never know. The only way we can make the best of it is to stay positive. These guys have sacrificed a lot to be on the court. They were hopeful this year would be different, and here we are in January of 2022 talking about what the definition of vaccination is and whether or not you're going into quarantine. We want to make sure the fight is the level it needs to be at, and then we'll figure it out from there."
KEEP BATTLING
RMU owned its biggest lead, 34-27, with 2:11 remaining in the first half after a three-pointer from Stone before Cleveland State (9-3 / 5-0 #HLMBB) used an 8-3 spurt to close out the stanza and pull within 37-35 at the break. In the second half, Winston nailed a floater at the 8:15 mark to give the Colonials a 56-50 advantage, but the Vikings scored the next seven points of the contest, including the first three-pointer of the tilt from Woodrich, to jump in front, 57-56. That set up a back-and-forth affair down the stretch, with CSU earning the win on the strength of a 26-for-31 (83.9%) performance at the line.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Spear led all scorers in the game with a career-high 24 points and also added six rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks. He was one of three to score in double figures, with sophomore guard
Enoch Cheeks scoring 12 and Williams 11. Farris provided the first field goal from an RMU guard with 4:05 remaining on a driving layup, with Cheeks following with a jumper. Cheeks and Williams also recorded two of RMU's seven steals.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes the opening leg of its five-game homestand Sunday, Jan. 9, with a 1:00 p.m. tip against Purdue Fort Wayne at the UPMC Events Center.
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