Alvaro Folgueiras’ Career Day Leads Robert Morris in Comeback Win Over Northern Kentucky

Robert Morris (18-8, 10-5 HL) went into Highland Heights and stole a win off of Northern Kentucky (11-14, 6-8 HL) after the Colonials trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half.

The Colonials still found themselves down by double-digits as the game entered the final nine minutes but they managed to chip away until they finally re-claimed the lead for good with 53 seconds to go and went on to win by the score of 81-76.

The Colonials’ comeback was fueled by a career day from junior forward Alvaro Folgueiras who finished with a career-high 35 points on an impressive shooting day. He converted on 12-of-14 field goal attempts which included 3-of-4 from behind the arc and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

While Folgueiras ultimately kept the Colonials in the game, the late play of Kam Woods helped close the gap on the Norse. Woods who finished as the Colonials second-leading scorer with 15 points, did not cross the double-digit threshold until late in the game but they proved to be some of the game’s most crucial points.

Woods nailed a step-back three with 1:26 left in the game to tie it at 74 points a piece before hitting a go-ahead contested midrange jumper from the Horizon League logo on the next possession. The Colonials did not surrender the lead the rest of the way.

The Colonials jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead which turned into an overall run of 10-2 before the Norse began to fight back. Robert Morris eventually jumped out to a 16-8 lead at the first media stoppage due to their defense as they forced a horrid shooting start from the Norse.

Northern Kentucky began the game making just 28% (4-of-14) of their field goals.

The Norse cut the deficit to just four by the next media timeout and eventually took their first lead of the game at the 4:04 mark when Josh Dilling hit a contested three. Dilling’s triple gave the Norse a 31-30 lead.

Ryan Prather Jr. answered right back with a three of his own but then the two teams started to trade points before the Norse carried a two-point advantage into halftime.

The main turnaround for the Norse after the rough start from the field was their ability to hit some tough, contested threes. After making just four of their first 14 shots, the Norse finished the half shooting 18-of-32 which included 5-of-10 from behind the arc.

The second half started the same way that the first one ended which was with both teams just trading buckets. That changed when Trey Robinson started to take over for the Norse as he started a 7-0 run with a baseline, turnaround jumper before he followed it up with another tough midrange shot. The run gave the Norse a 13-point lead.

Robinson finished as the team’s leading scorer with 19 points as he made 9-of-15 field goals in the loss to the Colonials.

The Colonials managed to answer with a 6-0 run from Folgueiras but still found themselves down by seven. The Norse went right back up by 10 points but Folgueiras did not let the game get away from Robert Morris as he scored 16-straight Colonial points to keep them alive.

Despite scoring his team’s last 16 points, Folgueiras and the Colonials found themselves down 69-60 and needed offense outside of the Spaniard. That is when Woods started cooking as he hit a three to cut the Colonials’ deficit to six.

Later in the half, Ryan Prather nailed another Colonials’ three to cut the deficit even more as it made the score 73-71 in favor of the Norse. Robinson answered on the other end with a free throw to make it a three-point game once again but Woods tied it on a step-back three with under a minute-and-a-half to go.

Then, on the other side of the court, D.J. Smith drew a charge call on Vinson to get the ball back for Robert Morris. Woods thanked Smith by nailing a tough midrange jumper to take a 76-74 lead for the Colonials.

The Colonials finally closed the thrilling, comeback win out on a dunk from Folgueiras and a free throw from Smith.

Other than Folgueiras and Woods, no other Colonials players finished with double-digit points. Amarion Dickerson played just 15 minutes in the game as he fouled out midway through the second half.

The Norse saw four scorers finish with at least 12 points. Outside of Robinson’s 19 points, Dilling was the next guy up as he piled up 17 points on a 5-of-6 day from behind the arc. Dan Gherezgher scored 14 points while Vinson added 12 before he fouled out.

After picking up their program-tying 10th Horizon League victory, the Colonials travel to Cleveland St. for a showdown with the top-ranked team in the league. The Colonials held a halftime lead against the Vikings but ultimately fell at home to Cleveland St. by the score of 80-69 earlier this season.