Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team finished the first half of a four-game road trip Saturday, falling to Detroit Mercy, 87-75, on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall. The Colonials slipped to 8-11 (.421) overall during the 2022-23 season, including 3-5 (.375) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Fifth-year forward
Kahliel Spear pulled the Colonials to within 42-41 at halftime with a dunk, which seemed to spark RMU coming out for the second 20 minutes of action. Freshman forward
Stephaun Walker hit a pair at the stripe to open the scoring in the second half, which began a personal 6-0 run for the rookie that gave RMU a 47-44 edge. The final bucket came off an offensive rebound for Walker, who scored 10 points in 17 minutes of action. Spear kept RMU in front, 49-46, with a layup, but a 9-0 run that featured a pair of three-pointers from A.J. Oliver gave Detroit Mercy the lead for good, 55-49.
QUOTABLE
"We play well for stretches, but we just don't play well long enough to come out on top," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "It was our third game this week and I thought we didn't seem to have the energy required to be successful. They were on a four-game losing streak and were humble. They came out and were hungry to win the game, and we just didn't have the answers. We'll look at the tape and see what we could've done differently. We have to keep pushing and honing in on those areas of weakness to get better."
CARBON COPY
RMU owned early advantages of 9-6, thanks to a layup from Walker, and 15-12, courtesy of a pair of free throws from senior guard
Michael Green III, but an 8-0 burst pushed the Titans in front, 20-15, with 11:30 left before halftime. Gerald Liddell opened the run with a jumper before consecutive three-pointers from Antoine Davis put Detroit Mercy on top. The Colonials battled back to grab a 29-28 lead after a triple from junior guard
Enoch Cheeks, but the three-pointer again pushed UDM in front. This time it was Oliver, who connected on the next possession for the Titans.
THE MOTOWN TITAN
Davis was at it again Saturday for Detroit Mercy, scoring a game-high 41 points to lead all scorers in the game and in the process moving into third place all-time on the NCAA scoring list. Thanks to 3,232 career points after his performance against RMU, Davis moved past Lionel Simmons of La Salle, who scored 3,217 points from 1986 to 1990, to slide into fourth place. In five career games against the Colonials, Davis has averaged 33.6 points per contest, eclipsing the 40-point plateau twice. In the first half Saturday, Davis scored 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, including an 8-for-11 performance from beyond the arc.
QUOTABLE
"(Antoine) is a great player," Toole said. "Guys like that don't have two bad shooting nights in a row. We went under a couple of ball screens, which didn't help, but I also thought he made some really tough shots. What made it really difficult is that, sure Antoine was able to score, but they also had a couple other guys step up and have big nights, which makes it even harder when Antoine has it going. He's done it to us now for three seasons. We try to get the ball out of his hand, and it doesn't seem to slow him down. As soon as he gets going, it's hard to stop."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Cheeks led the Colonials with 22 points and also added seven rebounds and two assists. He has now reached double figures in each of his 16 games during the 2022-23 campaign and 18 straight dating back to last season. Spear chipped in 15 points, seven boards and two blocks, while junior guard
Josh Corbin added 11 points. Green III, meanwhile, scored nine points and handed out three assists against no turnovers. Over the last three games, Green III has posted 21 assists against just one miscue and has posted 11 consecutive dimes without a turnover.
UP NEXT
RMU heads to the Midwest to conclude its four-game road trip with a pair of games. The Colonials take on Milwaukee Thursday, Jan. 19, in an 8:00 p.m. tip before concluding their swing Saturday, Jan. 21, at Green Bay.
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