Robert Morris Clinches No. 2 Seed in Horizon League Tournament, Defeats Cleveland State in Finale

MOON TWP, Pa. — Robert Morris (21-10, 13-7) and Cleveland State (10-21, 6-14) entered the day in two entirely different spots and situations based off of the league standings.

The Colonials came into the regular season finale with the goal of officially clinching the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament while the Vikings were trying to build some confidence prior to having to play in the new play-in round to start the tournament.

Despite the lopsided 83-64 victory for Robert Morris, the Vikings managed to stay right with the Colonials for the first 30 minutes of the afternoon before a dominant 23-2 run that stretched over a six-minute span allowed the hosts to run away with the win and the No. 2 seed.

Notables

Nikolaos Chitikoudis got off to a fast start to the game and was the lone shining spot, at least offensively, as the team entered halftime as he led his team with 12 points and five rebounds at the intermission.

By the time that the game wrapped up, Chitikoudis was the game’s leading scorer and rebounder as he posted his 10th double-double of the season with an 18-point, 10-rebound performance.

While Darius Livingston Jr. was the lone freshman to make an impact early in the season, both Samuel Obenjo and Eddie Cooke III have come on strong over the last month for the Colonials which has been a major reason that the team experienced the success in the month of February that they have.

Cooke came into the year with a Division-I frame and top-tier athleticism but it took time for him to adjust to playing against other players that could match those intangibles but it all came together for the freshman in the regular season finale as he played his best game yet in the Colonials uniform.

Aside from the countless defensive plays that Cooke provided in the win over Cleveland State, he came close to flirting with a triple-double as he tallied 8 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Like they have all month, both Livingston and Obenjo left their marks on the 83-64 win on Saturday as well. Livingston, who is still starting in-place of the injured Albert Vargas, knocked down four more three-pointers and had four assists. Obenjo provided key interior help as affected a handful of drive attempts and shots while recording a loud dunk on the offensive side.

Game Thread

Nikolaos Chitikoudis helped Robert Morris get off to a clean start to the game as he turned a couple of strong defensive stops from Kaleb Brown into a quick six points to start the game. Darius Livingston was the first Colonial outside of Chitikoudis to get on the board as his first three of the game made the advantage grow to 9-3.

The Colonials grew its lead to 12-7 by the first media timeout but then the offense went dry as Cleveland State went on a 14-0 run over a four-minute stretch to take a 19-12 lead. With the Vikings missing their leading scorer Dayan Nessah, they went to a more all-around approach on offense and it worked early as six different players scored in just the first eight minutes of the contest.

Ryan Prather Jr. looked to stop the Vikings scoring run with his first three-pointer of the afternoon but the threes kept on coming for the visitors which allowed them to jump out to a 29-18 lead. Prather’s second triple of the game was the turning point as he helped kickstart a 12-1 run, but the player that may have provided the energy for his teammates during that span was freshman Eddie Cooke III.

Cooke scored four of the 12 points during the run and chipped in another bucket just a couple of possessions later. That was on top of the defensive stops that he helped cause during that stretch. The 12-1 run allowed the Colonials to tie the game up at 30 a piece despite trailing by 11 just minutes prior.

As quickly as the Colonials tied it, was as quickly as the Vikings jumped back ahead as a pair of threes from Foster Wonders and Chevalier Emery gave the Vikings a 36-32 lead as the final media timeout rolled around.

Robert Morris was able to claw back again and tie the game at 39-39 after Ta’Zir Smith drained a 18-foot jumper with just three seconds left in the half. While the Colonials managed to tie it, they were heavily favored coming into the game but multiple lapses on defense coupled with the Vikings out-rebounding the Colonials led to the close game through the first 20 minutes.

The first nine minutes of the second half was more or less the same as the first half as both teams traded buckets. A trio of threes from Cleveland State over the first couple of minutes was the difference as the Vikings eventually led 54-50, but what the Vikings did not want to allow, yet did, was DeSean Goode getting into flow.

Goode’s lone three of the game cut the deficit to just one and was the spark that light the fuse under the Colonials’ offense. After Cooke scored his last bucket of the game to give the Colonials a one-point lead, Goode score two more shots in a row which was just the start to an eventual 23-2 run.

While Goode and the rest of the offense played an unselfish brand of basketball over the next couple of minutes, it was the defense that really shined as they held the Vikings without a single point for a six-minute stretch of game time.

By the time that Cleveland State finally got back onto the board, Robert Morris extended its lead all the way out to 73-56 with just 5:43 left in the game. When it was all but certain that the Colonials would walk away with the win, Toole inserted fan-favorite Cyril Arvanitis who immediately knocked down a three which put a cherry on top of the crucial victory.

Up Next

Robert Morris will now turn its attention to the 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Tournament in which it will host an opening round game on Wednesday evening against the No. 9 seed Youngstown State Penguins.

The Colonials have already beat the Penguins twice this season and will need to complete a three-game sweep of them in order to advance to Indianapolis for the final rounds of the tournament and a potential trip back to the NCAA Tournament.