Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team wrapped up a three-game homestand Saturday at the UPMC Events Center, falling to Cleveland State, 63-54. In having a three-game winning streak snapped, the Colonials dipped to 7-8 (.467) overall during the 2022-23 season, including 2-2 (.500) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Down at the break, 28-20, RMU was able to close its deficit to one possession on four different occasions in the second half. Junior guard
Enoch Cheeks would hit a floater in the lane with 8:11 remaining that pulled the Colonials to within 46-44, but the Vikings answered on consecutive possessions, both with shots from beyond the arc. Jayson Woodrich hit the first one from straight away to extend the lead for Cleveland State to 49-44, and Drew Lowder followed by draining a triple with 6:52 to go to give the Vikings a 52-44 cushion.
QUOTABLE
"Certainly a disappointing outcome," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "You have to give a tremendous amount of credit to the way (Cleveland State) was able to defend. They're an excellent defensive team and have been all year long. We weren't strong or tough enough to execute under that amount of pressure, and that became the game. Every catch is contested. Every cut is contested. Every dribble is contested. You have to be mentally prepared to handle that, and we certainly weren't at the beginning of the game. The abysmal offensive execution in the first half was a huge reason why we were unable to be successful today."
ROCK FIGHT
RMU converted just 28 percent (7-for-25) of its shots in the opening 20 minutes of action, including an 0-for-8 performance from beyond the arc. At the 11:22 mark of the first half Cheeks connected on a pullup jumper, which knotted the game, 7-7. Lowder answered for Cleveland State, hitting a floater as well as his own pullup jumper, while Cole Middleton converted in the lane to help the Vikings open up a 13-7 advantage. The Colonials came back to tie it, 19-19, with 3:51 left in the opening stanza after a three-point play courtesy of Cheeks, but CSU (8-7 / 3-1 #HLMBB) closed the first half on a 9-1 burst to grab an eight-point advantage at the break.
EVEN FLOW
Offense at a premium in the first half, both Cleveland State and RMU converted at a high clip after the break, with the Colonials knocking down 56 percent (14-for-25) of their attempts from the field to finish at 42 percent (21-for-50) overall. Fifth-year forward
Kahliel Spear scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, converting six of his eight opportunities from the floor. He also added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks. Spear had helped RMU close to within 34-32 early in the second half thanks to a dunk and after Lowder turnover the Colonials had a chance to grab the lead, but a three-pointer from junior guard
Josh Corbin from the corner was off the mark. Tae Williams responded with a layup, and Woodrich buried a three-pointer on the next possession to help push the lead for the Vikings to 39-32.
QUOTABLE
"It takes understanding how to execute your offense and that you're not always going to get option A," Toole said. "You have to get to option D, E or F. That's how good they are at disrupting any flow you try to create. The hard part is you go home for Christmas for four days, you come back and practice for two-and-a-half days and all of sudden you're into conference play. The fewer practices you have the less detail you're going to have. To be able to have Monday and Tuesday next week with some good, hard aggressiveness practices to kind of recalibrate is important. We all need reminders every day of what is important for us to be successful. Kahliel and Enoch are experienced so they've been through some of those things. We need some more guys to get up to their level."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Cheeks led RMU Saturday with 19 points while also registering three rebounds and two assists. He converted eight of his 13 attempts from the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, in securing game-high honors in scoring. Tristan Enaruna led three players in double figures for Cleveland State with 18 points, while Deshon Parker added 14 and Lowder 11. The Vikings shot just 36.4 percent (4-for-11) from beyond the arc, but the pair from Woodrich loomed large, as he also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
UP NEXT
Five of the next six games for RMU come on the road, beginning Thursday, Jan. 5, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Youngstown State at the Beeghly Center.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | RMU Athletics Gameday App
