Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened its final homestand of the 2022-23 regular season Thursday, pulling away from Green Bay in the second half to earn a 71-56 triumph at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials improved to 13-15 (.464) overall thanks to the victory, including 8-9 (.471) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ryan Wade connected for a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half for the Phoenix, and Clarence Cummings III followed with a layup to give Green Bay its biggest lead of the contest, 34-30. RMU answered with 13-4 spurt that opened up a 43-38 advantage with 13:17 remaining. The run was capped by a three-pointer from junior guard
Josh Corbin, who drained a pair of triples during the burst, while sophomore guard
Jackson Last added another. A three-point play from fifth-year forward
Kahliel Spear would give RMU its first double-digit cushion, 52-42, with 9:03 to play, which ignited a stretch in which the Colonials outscored the Phoenix, 18-3, to grab a 62-45 edge with four-and-a-half minutes left.
QUOTABLE
"Green Bay's zone slowed our ball movement in the first half," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "I thought we took some really good shots that we didn't make. We were pretty consistent throughout defensively. Sometimes shots don't go in, but there were a couple of possessions as the half went on where we had some incredible ball movement, and we didn't make the shot. You can't get frustrated if you're taking great shots, and we did that for the majority of the game. In the second half we did a better job getting in the paint and we had some timely three's from some guys that really allowed us to take control of the game."
SPREADSHEET
Four different Colonials reached double figures in scoring against Green Bay (3-25 / 2-15 #HLMBB), with junior guard
Enoch Cheeks scoring a game-high 18 points, including 10 in the second half. He finished a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line and scored six points during RMU's deciding run in the second half. Off the bench senior guard
Michael Green III finished with 13 points, Spear added 12 and Last contributed 10. Spear and Last each finished a carom shy of a double-double, with Last setting a personal standard for rebounds. Of his nine boards, Last posted a team-high four on the offensive glass as RMU outscored Green Bay, 20-6, in second-chance points.
QUOTABLE
"We talked about going into the game that we thought we could get some offensive rebounds," Toole said. "Jackson did a great job of that. He's just so versatile. He's able to play multiple positions and guard multiple positions. He makes good decisions offensively because he understands our offense inside and out. When he makes a couple three's the way he did tonight, that just opens up opportunities for other people."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
In addition to extending his streak of double-figure scoring games to 12 thanks to his performance Thursday against the Phoenix, Spear finished with three of RMU's eight blocks on the night. It marks the second time in three games the Colonials matched a season-high with eight rejections. The trio of stuffs for Spear pushed his career total in the category to 90 in 78 games at RMU, an average of 1.15 per contest, as well as 120 in 124 games at the NCAA Division I level.
QUOTABLE
"It's so hard to win games, period," Toole said. "We always talk about respecting the game. You have to respect the game and your opponent. If you try to skip steps you put yourself in jeopardy. We expressed that to our guys. I thought they did a good job of preparing themselves and then going out and executing. You look at a lot of teams across the country who might not have the best record, go look at their scores. Look at how close they were to flipping four or five games because of one or two possessions. We've been on the wrong side of some of those games this year and we're trying to get better and improve. We don't have the right to overlook anybody. We have to bring our best every time we take the floor."
UP NEXT
RMU continues a three-game homestand Saturday, Feb. 18, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Milwaukee at the UPMC Events Center.
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