Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened a stretch Thursday in which five of its next six games will come on the road with a 78-56 loss to Youngstown State at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio. The Colonials slipped to 7-9 (.438) overall during the 2022-23 campaign, including 2-3 (.400) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Junior forward
Matt Mayers provided a flush thanks to a dime from senior guard
Michael Green III that gave RMU a 20-14 lead at the 7:09 mark of the first half, but the Penguins used a 15-5 run to close the opening stanza and grab a 29-25 advantage at the break. Dwayne Cohill, who finished with a game-high 23 points, contributed six points as YSU (11-5 / 3-2 #HLMBB) shot 4-for-7 from the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-7 at the free-throw line during the burst.
QUOTABLE
"Everything fell apart, and it's frustrating," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "Toward the end of the first half we're trying to manage the game and play it at our pace, but we had a couple bad shots and a couple of turnovers and suddenly they had the lead. Even at 29-25 at the half, that's our type of game, but all of the sudden it got out of control in the second half. (Youngstown State) is a really good offensive team. They're a really good defensive team, too. We are who we are and we have to be comfortable with who we are. We try to move the ball around, create assists for each other and find the best possible shot and play tight defense. Tonight we just weren't able to do that."
FEELING IT
Despite the late run that gave Youngstown State the lead at halftime, RMU held the Penguins to just 40 percent (10-for-25) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 2-for-9 (22.2%) from beyond the arc. In the second half YSU found its touch. Entering the game tops in the Horizon League in scoring offense at 84.1 points per game, the Penguins dropped 49 points after the break, knocking down 57.1 percent (16-for-28) of their attempts from the floor, including 63.6 percent (7-for-11) from beyond the arc.
DEEP THOUGHTS
Having only converted three of their 16 opportunities from beyond the arc in their final game of 2022 against Cleveland State at the UPMC Events Center, the Colonials struggled from deep in the first game of 2023 at Youngstown State. RMU shot just 1-for-10 from downtown Thursday at the Beeghly Center, with junior guard
Josh Corbin hitting the only three-pointer for the Colonials at the 3:04 mark of the first half. That triple gave RMU a 25-21 edge before the Penguins scored the final eight points of the half to grab a four-point lead at the break.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Junior guard
Enoch Cheeks kept his double-figure scoring streak intact by pacing the Colonials against the Penguins with 16 points. He shot 7-for-17 from the field and 2-for-3 at the free-throw line and also added three rebounds, an assist and a block. Freshman
Stephaun Walker also scored in double figures for RMU with 11 points, but Cohill led the charge for the Penguins. In addition to his 23 points, he handed out seven assists, grabbed three rebounds and notched three of YSU's 12 steals, the second consecutive game an opponent posted a season high in thefts.
UP NEXT
RMU returns home to the UPMC Events Center to host IUPUI Monday, Jan. 9, for a 7:00 p.m. tip before heading out on a four-game road trip.
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