Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team concluded their 2022-23 non-conference schedule Wednesday, winning 77-66 over Saint Francis University at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials improved to 6-7 (.462) overall.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In a game of runs,
Josh Corbin and
Jackson Last started the action, draining back-to-back triples to give RMU an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout. The Red Flash would then go on a 7-1 run and take back the advantage 14-9. "We were comfortable with trading baskets for a while," stated head coach Andy Toole. "That can't be who we are, so I'm thankful we were able to figure it out while there was still time." Following that streak, the Colonials brought back a streak of their own, scoring 12 out of the next 16 points to go ahead 21-18 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Across the next four minutes, the Colonials shot 4-of-5 and 3-of-3 from behind the arc to maintain the lead. After half,
Enoch Cheeks paced 13 points, followed by nine each from
Kahliel Spear and
Josh Corbin to stay in front 37-34.
Opening the second half, the home side connected on 5-of-7 from the floor. Corbin was dangerous from trey once again as he made back-to-back baskets to open the half. Saint Francis responded with a 12-2 run, making six shots out of eight to take the lead back 53-51 with under 12 minutes to play. The Colonials answered and broke through the Red Flash's defense going on a 13-1 run. Spear and Cheeks combined for nine points and the defense was lights out as Saint Francis couldn't convert on five shots in that time frame. "Our game plan was to try and get to the glass. As we started to string together some stops and Mayers earned us some second third chance opportunities. That really raised the energy level for our team," Toole said. With a lead in double digits 64-54, RMU closed out the night getting to the free throw line, winning the ball game 77-66.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Balanced scoring helped the Colonials pass by the Red Flash as several players scored in double digits. "Some of the best teams I've coached have had multiple guys averaging between eight and 14 points," Toole said. "We want to play a brand of basketball so we can see other guys get into double figures." Cheeks led the way scoring a career high 23 points. This is the eighth time during the 2022-23 season that a player has scored 20+ points. Corbin produced 15 and
Kahliel Spear added 14 which takes him up to 999 career points in his collegiate career. With one block tonight, Spear is now tied 7
th all-time with Chaz McCrommon (2000-05) in RMU history with 74 blocks. Last posted 11 points for RMU on the night. And,
Matt Mayers off the bench almost completed the double-double as he made ten points and gathered nine rebounds. Mayers has found success against the Red Flash, as he posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds almost exactly a year ago last season, at SFU (12/22/21).
NON-CONFERENCE COMPLETE
The Colonials are now 6-7 overall with a 5-6 record in non-conference games. They've won four out of their last six games this season. All-time RMU is now 53-38 (.582) when facing Saint Francis. The Colonials five wins in non-conference matchups have been against Pitt Greensburg (84-49), West Virginia Wesleyan (111-56), Central Michigan (71-66), Mount St. Mary's (68-59) and now SFU (77-66). "I think we've gotten better throughout the non-conference portion of our schedule. We gave ourselves a chance to win the majority of the games. Early on we learned the importance of possessions and execution, and how we need to compete on the defensive side," Toole said. The Colonials have only lost by double digits twice during the season at Ohio State (11/7) and at South Alabama (11/27).
QUOTABLES
"We have great respect for St. Francis and what they've done over there. Our fans are aware of the rivalry and their fans are too. It's always a hard-fought contested game. I talked to their head coach Rob Krimmel after the game and he asked me if this is something we want to keep doing. I believe it makes a lot of sense and we'll talk about it moving forward." – Head Coach Andy Toole
UP NEXT
RMU takes an eight-day break during the holidays before hosting two Horizon League games against Purdue Fort Wayne (12/29) at 7:00 p.m. and Cleveland State (12/31) at 3:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
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