Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened a four-game road trip Thursday in Rochester, Mich., falling to Oakland, 69-65, at the Athletics Center O'Rena. The Colonials dipped to 8-10 (.444) overall during the 2022-23 campaign, including 3-4 (.429) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Junior guard
Enoch Cheeks buried a three-pointer with 1:36 to go and was fouled in the act by Rocket Watts of the Golden Grizzlies. Cheeks promptly sank the free opportunity at the stripe to give the Colonials a 65-63 advantage. Trey Townsend, who matched a career high with 30 points for the third time this season to lead all scorers, answered on the next possession for Oakland with a dunk, tying the game for the ninth time. RMU suffered a turnover on its next possession, and Townsend was sent to the stripe with 41 seconds remaining after a foul. He hit both to push the Golden Grizzlies in front for good, and his pair at the chalk with 13 ticks left sealed the victory. The Colonials had two cracks to tie the contest late after Townsend put Oakland on top, but a three-pointer from sophomore guard
Jackson Last was off the mark, while a layup by fifth-year
Kahliel Spear didn't fall.
QUOTABLE
"It's a frustrating one, for sure, because we just weren't ready to go," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole. "I thought despite falling down as much as we did early, we put ourselves in a spot to try and steal it, but we just couldn't get the stops we needed. In some of those moments you have to be able to step up, keep a guy in front of you and get a stop. We just had too many breakdowns. Once you spot someone 14 points and then claw your way back sometimes it's tough to get over the hump. We just couldn't come up with the plays we needed to make."
DIG DUG
The Colonials spotted Oakland a 13-0 lead four-and-a-half minutes into the contest after a three-pointer from Blake Lampman, his third triple in the opening salvo. RMU got its first basket at 14:46 thanks to a three-pointer from Cheeks, but the Golden Grizzlies grabbed their biggest cushion after a three-point play by Watts, 17-3. RMU still trailed by double digits, 22-11, before using a 16-3 run to successfully climb out of its early deficit and grab a 27-25 lead. Cheeks gave the Colonials the advantage after being fouled from downtown by Townsend with 4:13 left in the first half. Cheeks hit all three of his shots from the free-throw line to put RMU on top for the first time. Oakland steadied, eventually entering the break with a 36-33 lead.
ON THE RESERVATION
The RMU bench outscored Oakland Thursday, 17-0, while the Colonials also owned a commanding edge on the glass, 40-29, including a 15-7 in offensive rebounds. However, RMU was only able to outscore the Golden Grizzlies by two, 14-12, in second chance points. Senior guard
Michael Green III finished with nine points and seven assists but more importantly didn't suffer a turnover in 29 minutes of action. Over the last five games, Green III has handed out 31 dimes against just eight turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.88.
QUOTABLE
"I thought we got a pretty good lift from our bench tonight," Toole said. "Mike, Chris and TJ all came in and played well, which is what we needed after the start we got off to. (
Stephaun Walker) is coming back from the flu, so he's not 100 percent, and we could've used his physicality inside tonight. Unfortunately he just didn't have it. In this league you have to be able to win close games. (Oakland) had Townsend and Moore both step up and make big plays tonight, which was the difference. It's tough because each and every one of these games are going to be so close."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Spear and Cheeks each eclipsed the 20-point plateau against Oakland, with Spear leading the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Cheeks added 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block for the Colonials, who finished at 39.7 percent (25-for-63) from the field. RMU launched a season-high 31 attempts from international waters, converting nine (29%).
UP NEXT
RMU continues its four-game road trip by concluding its swing through the Great Lakes State Saturday, Jan. 14, with a 1:00 p.m. tip against Detroit Mercy at Calihan Hall.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | RMU Athletics Gameday App
