Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team picked up its second consecutive road victory Sunday, earning a come-from-behind victory over Youngstown State, 73-68, at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. The Colonials improved to 7-19 (.269) overall during the 2021-22 season, including 5-12 (.294) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Michael Akuchie provided a dunk for the Penguins with 7:01 to play that gave Youngstown State a 64-54 advantage, but the Colonials responded with a 12-0 run to grab a 66-64 lead with just 3:15 remaining. RMU held YSU to 0-for-5 shooting from the field and also forced a turnover to jump in front. Senior forward
Kahliel Spear was the driving offensive force during the surge, first draining a three-pointer and then converting a three-point play after a layup and foul by Myles Hunter that pulled the Colonials to within 64-63. The Colonials grabbed the lead, 66-64, when junior guard
Michael Green III found sophomore
Kam Farris open for his second three-pointer of the contest.
QUOTABLE
"For us to be able to execute the way we did in the second half is how you're going to be able to win," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "No one's going to give it to you. You've got to go and make it happen. The guys certainly did that tonight and I'm really proud of them. I can't say enough about Kahliel's effort. Those three-point plays late, we needed them. It wasn't always pretty, but much happier to be up by five than down by five."
SEALING THE DEAL
Youngstown State (16-11 / 10-7 #HLMBB) snapped its drought without a field after the three-pointer by Farris with a driving layup from Dwayne Cohill with just under three minutes left to knot the game, 66-66. Green III followed by getting into the paint and hitting a jumper, and Cohill answered with another driving layp to tie the score for the final time, 68-68. The Colonials were able to seal the win at the free-throw line, going 5-for-6 at the stripe in the final 1:07 of action. Farris pushed RMU in front, 69-68, by hitting the front end of a pair after getting fouled by Myles Hunter, and the Colonials followed with a huge defensive stand, forcing a missed three-pointer by Tevin Olson, with Spear grabbing the rebound. Green III again attacked the paint, missing a driving layup with 23 seconds left but getting his own carom. He was then fouled by Shemar Rathan-Mayes and promptly sank both of his attempts at the chalk.
QUOTABLE
"Mike did a great job of controlling the tempo of the game," Toole said. "He was able to get into the paint and either find open guys on the inside or convert, which was huge. For us to shoot 63 percent in the second half is hard, especially playing in our third game of the week. Guys really stepped up down the stretch and we had some really good defensive efforts, especially on their three-point shooting."
SPEARMINT
Spear led all scorers in the game with a career-high 27 points, knocking down 10 of his 11 attempts from the field, including a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the arc, while going 4-for-5 at the free-throw line. He also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked a pair of shots. Junior
Matt Mayers was also a key part of the frontcourt for RMU, supplying 11 points, seven boards and a rejection while converting five of his six attempts from the floor. Green III added 14 points and five assists against just one turnover, while Farris supplied 10 points off the bench.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Overall in the victory the Colonials shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the floor after knocking down 17 of their 27 attempts (63%) after halftime. It marks the highest shooting percentage for RMU in a road game during the 2021-22 season as well as the seventh time overall. The Colonials are 3-4 (.429) this season when converting at least 50 percent of their shots from the field as well as 58-12 (.829) in 12 years under Toole when turning the trick.
UP NEXT
RMU returns to the UPMC Events Center to conclude the home portion of its 2021-22 regular season. The Colonials open a two-game set Thursday, Feb. 17, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against IUPUI before hosting UIC Saturday, Feb. 19.
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