Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team concluded the home portion of its 2021-22 schedule Saturday, falling in overtime to UIC, 96-88, at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials slipped to 7-21 (.250) overall, including 5-14 (.263) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Flames closed the game on an 11-4 run that was capped by a Jace Carter steal and dunk with 18.6 seconds to play that knotted the game for the sixth time, 83-83. RMU had a chance to win it in regulation, but junior guard
Michael Green III missed an elbow jumper and a second chance by sophomore guard
Enoch Cheeks was off the mark. In the second overtime home game of the year for the Colonials, UIC (11-15 / 7-10 #HLMBB) scored the first seven points, including a triple by Carter, to open up a 90-83 advantage en route to the win. Damaria Franklin hit a pair of three-pointers during the final run in the second half that tied the contest and scored a game-high 28 points, while off the bench Zion Griffin scored 27. The duo combined to shoot 21-for-37 (56.7%) from the field.
QUOTABLE
"There were parts of the game where I thought where we really battled hard," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "Obviously I don't think we defended very well giving up 93 points, but at the start of the second half I thought we defended well and that was where we were able to build that lead. But sustaining that effort and continuing to follow the formula, we just slip away. We have too many cracks in that execution, and then you're not able to hold on. Every time there was a toughness play that needed to be made, other than a very select few guys, we chose not to make it."
PAINT BY NUMBERS
RMU shot 53.2 percent (33-for-62) from the field by going to the rim, scoring 54 points in the paint. The frontcourt of senior
Kahliel Spear and juniors
Brandon Stone and
Matt Mayers combined for 47 points against the Flames. Spear scored a team-high 24 points and also grabbed nine rebounds and Stone chipped in 16 points and also posted nine caroms as the trio combined shot 63.3 percent (19-for-30) from the field. Also finishing in double figures against UIC was Green III (14) and Cheeks (11).
QUOTABLE
"When bad things happen to us we struggle to bounce back and get to the next play," Toole said. "We carried that last play all the way through overtime. It's really unfortunate. I thought Mike got a good look right at the end of regulation. It fell a little bit short. They took over in overtime because we weren't able to rally and do the things necessary to win."
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Despite shooting 53.2 percent overall, the Colonials were able to knock down just one of their seven attempts from the field in the final five minutes, which came with 47 seconds to play when Stone connected for a three-pointer. RMU finished just 4-for-15 (26.7%) from deep, while UIC finished 11-for-30 (36.7%). The Flames converted each of their final five opportunities from beyond the arc after starting just 6-for-25 (24%).
QUOTABLE
"At this stage in the game when the season isn't going great, can you stay together and value each and every day that you get to put the jersey on?" Toole asked. "A lot of times the grass is greenest where it gets watered, and it's the brownest where the neighbor dog comes over and does what it does. You have that dynamic starting to build where, are you taking care of your lawn? Are you taking care of the opportunity you have right now? Down the stretch we had some critical breakdowns in some of our zone slides, which is day one stuff. Those kinds of plays have been plaguing us all year long, because I'm not sure everyone is watering their lawn."
UP NEXT
The Colonials will take to the road for their final two games of the 2021-22 regular season. RMU opens the swing Thursday, Feb. 24, with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Northern Kentucky before traveling to Wright State Saturday, Feb. 26.
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