Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened a seven-game road trip Saturday, dropping a 60-51 decision to No. 21/23 Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, at UD Arena. The Colonials slipped to 2-2 (.500) overall during the 2022-23 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
DaRon Holmes II knocked down a three-pointer with 7:36 to go in the first half that gave the Flyers their biggest advantage, 24-9, forcing the Colonials to call timeout. The break seemed to steady the Colonials, who scored the next nine points of the game to trim their deficit to 24-18 with just 2:28 left before the break. Sophomore
Chris Ford provided a driving layup to ignite the spurt, junior guard
Enoch Cheeks converted a pair in the lane and junior guard
Josh Corbin connected from beyond the arc to make it a two-possession game. Holmes II hit a layup to break a drought of almost six minutes without a field goal for Dayton, which eventually owned a 30-21 edge at halftime.
QUOTABLE
"We played good in spurts tonight, but not consistent enough to win a Division I game," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "I thought our defensive effort, especially in the second half, was really were it needed to be. If we're able to take the positives of what we did defensively tonight and stretch that to a full 40 minutes, that's only going to help us down the road and when we're in the thick of the conference schedule. Offensively, you certainly would like to see some more shots fall, but that was influenced by Dayton's height and intensity. Credit to Dayton. They really made it tough for our guys to get consistent clean looks."
SECOND HALF
Holmes II would hit a pair at the free-throw line to open the scoring in the second half, and Mike Sharavjamts followed with a three-pointer that helped Dayton gets its lead back to double digits, 39-29. RMU rallied, as Cheeks converted a three-point play thanks to a layup and foul, while another triple from Corbin pulled the Colonials to within 41-35 with 12:41 remaining. The two teams then went scoreless for almost three minutes, with Toumani Camara finally breaking the ice for the Flyers with a dunk. That bolstered a 9-3 run that helped Dayton grab a 48-35 edge with eight minutes to go.
ALL-AROUND ACTIVE
Cheeks scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second half for RMU and continues to stuff the stat sheet. He added five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals while also rejecting three shots. His three-pointer with just under five minutes to play pulled the Colonials to within 52-44, but another stretch of two minutes followed where neither team was able to convert. Holmes II, who led all scorers in the contest with 18 points, hit a turnaround jumper with 2:44 left that helped keep RMU at bay.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Despite not scoring, senior guard
Michael Green III kept the offense flowing, handing out eight assists while also grabbing three rebounds and suffering just three turnovers. Fifth-year forward
Kahliel Spear not only notched his first game scoring in double figures during the 2022-23 season but recorded a double-double, posting 11 points and 11 rebounds. Corbin added 12 on the strength of a 4-for-9 performance from beyond the arc.
DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING
The Colonials held the Flyers to a field goal percentage of .421 (24-for-57), including just 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from beyond the arc. Since giving up 91 points in the season opener @ Ohio State (11/7/22), RMU is allowing an average of just 55 points in its last three games. The Colonials currently sit fourth in the Horizon League in scoring defense, allowing an average of 64.0 points per contest.
UP NEXT
RMU heads to Savannah, Ga., to take part in the Hostilo Hoops Community Classic at Enmarket Arena with three games in three days. The Colonials will face Mercer (Nov. 25), Evansville (Nov. 26) and South Alabama (Nov. 27).
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