Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU men's basketball team opened the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Tournament Tuesday with a 67-64 victory over No. 11 seed IUPUI at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials improve to 16-16 (.500) overall during the 2022-23 season and advance to the quarterfinals to face Cleveland State.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Senior guard
Michael Green III hit a three-pointer with 2.1 seconds to play that snapped a 64-64 tie and lifted RMU to the win. The Jaguars had used a 15-4 surge to turn a 60-49 deficit into a tie game, 64-64, after a driving layup from Jlynn Counter, who led all scorers in the game with 25 points, with 10.3 seconds left. RMU, which never trailed in the contest, called timeout, and out of the break Green III took a screen from fifth-year forward
Kahliel Spear on the near wing and buried the triple to lift the Colonials to the triumph.
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"We drew up the play in the timeout, which was for (Kahliel) to come set the step up screen," Green III said. "By the time I got to half court there was about seven seconds. I felt like I made the right read and made the big shot. I tried to stay poised. My role is to lead and provide whatever isn't being provided on the court at the time. If we need scoring that's what I'm there to do. If we need facilitating when we have guys like
Josh Corbin,
Enoch Cheeks, Kahliel, scoring the ball, then my job is to make it easier by facilitating. Shout out to my teammates and coaches for believing in me and giving me the ball at the end."
IN THE LANE
RMU grabbed an early advantage thanks to the efforts of freshman forward
Stephaun Walker, who scored the first six points of the contest, including the last bucket off an offensive rebound. IUPUI (5-26) got on the board with a three-pointer from Vincent Brady II, but the Colonials opened up a 34-20 advantage at the break thanks to Walker and Spear, who combined for 20 points and 13 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, including six offensive boards. RMU scored as many points in the paint in the first half as IUPUI did as a team despite shooting a lower percentage overall from the field.
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"I guess that's conference tournament basketball," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "We've got to maintain our defensive discipline and our ability to get stops. It's vital. Credit Mike. Unbelievable shot there at the end. A lot of poise in the timeout with 10 seconds to go. Guys were locked in. We talked about making a play or making a shot. Mike had three huge three's in the second half that gave us a little bit of a cushion, obviously the last one was the biggest. That's where it's so valuable to have a guy like Mike. It was a season-saving play tonight. He made a great read and knocked it down, and we're thankful to be able to play another day."
💯
Spear has been a consistent presence as the Colonials posted a record of 11-4 (.733) in games at the UPMC Events Center this season, scoring in double figures in each of RMU's final 12 games at home. He recorded his 13th double-double of the 2022-23 campaign in the win over IUPUI with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He also added two assists and matched a career high for the third time this season with four blocks. His first rejection of the evening marked the 100th of his career, and his dunk off a missed three-pointer with 8:17 remaining marked the 100th flush of his career. Spear is the first RMU student-athlete in program history on record to eclipse career totals of 100 blocks and 100 dunks.
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"(Kahliel) talked a little bit about last week with the team that when he decided to leave Bucknell he didn't have a plan in place," Toole said. "He thought he needed a change and didn't get as much interest as he thought he might have. He was able to come here and through hard work has been able to get better and better and better. He's come a really long way in a lot of areas that has allowed him to be much more consistent. For a guy to play almost two-and-a-half years and score 1,000 points here and grab 500 rebounds here, it's really impressive. The last two years he's been really special."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Jaguars shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) from the field in the second half and 45.1 percent (23-for-51) overall while holding RMU to a shooting percentage of 35.8 percent (19-for-53). The Colonials scored just four points in the paint in the second 20 minutes, while Counter and Chris Osten combined for 30 points and eight rebounds for IUPUI. Counter scored 17 of his 25 points after the break but needed 23 shots from the floor, converting nine (39.1%).
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"For some of these guys, as much as they've been part of good teams and part of college basketball, they haven't been in those moments yet," Toole said. "As much as guys don't always want to admit it, it's different. You have to be super strong and well-versed in what you have to do. There were certainly a little bit of tense moments at the end. That's where you have to rely on your training. Fortunate we were able to get over the hump. Not having Enoch there at the end was tough."
UP NEXT
RMU heads to the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Thursday, March 2, for an 8:00 p.m. tip against No. 3 Cleveland State in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Tournament. It marks the second consecutive season the Colonials and Vikings will square off in the quarterfinals. Tickets
can be purchased by using this link.
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