Robert Morris Drops Close Contest to Fast-Paced Northern Kentucky

MOON TWP, Pa. — With the holidays officially in the rearview mirror, it was time for Robert Morris (10-5, 2-2) to dive fully into Horizon League play and the Colonials welcomed the fast-paced Northern Kentucky Norse (10-5, 2-2) into the UPMC Events Center on Monday night.

Despite a fast start on both ends of the floor for Robert Morris, that featured a 17-4 lead within the first seven minutes of the game, Northern Kentucky quickly erased the 13-point lead and forced the Colonials into playing their type of game which proved to be too much in the end as the Norse walked away with a 79-77 victory.

The Norse entered the game ranked inside of the top three of the league in both points per game (84.3) and steals per game (10.1).

Outside of the first seven minutes, the Norse played exactly how they wanted on offense which was to push the tempo, especially after a Colonials’ bucket. Additionally, the pesky zone defense from the Norse caused 15 turnovers, 10 of which came off of steals.

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Albert Vargas got Robert Morris off to a quick start with a three. After Northern Kentucky answered with a quick two, the Colonials put their foot on the gas and jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the first media timeout, which snowballed into a 17-4 lead minutes later.

A three from Ryan Prather Jr. later in the half gave the Colonials a 22-10 lead but that is when the game started to shift as the Norse went on their first of two huge first-half runs.

A 12-2 run just before the under-eight timeout cut the Colonials’ lead to just 24-23, and a 16-3 in the closing minutes of the half put the Norse ahead for the first time all game. The latter run was fueled behind 10 of Kael Robinson’s 11 points, as he opened his bag up with two triples, a shimmy floater and a tough, underhanded layup around a defender.

Despite the two large runs, the Colonials answered just before the halftime buzzer and went on a 6-0 run which allowed them to head into the break down just two as the score sat at 43-41.

DeSean Goode, who added his sixth double-double of the season, willed the Colonials back into the lead for a brief period of time early in the second half as he hit a three to make the score 46-44, and then hit another triple to make it 50-49. Robert Morris claimed its first lead since the score was 32-30 a few possessions later on a three from Cam Wilds.

Seconds after Wilds’ three put the Colonials ahead 55-54, Shawn Nelson screamed down the court for an easy transition layup that caught the defense off-guard. The Norse got a handful of free transition buckets seconds after the Colonials made a shot throughout the game.

The Colonials again briefly reclaimed the lead on the other side of the under-12 timeout on a three from Ryan Prather Jr., but that would be the last time that Robert Morris led throughout the remainder of the game.

The Norse went on 14-4 run that gave them a 73-64 lead with 5:22 left in the game. The nine-point lead was the biggest lead for the Norse in the entire game.

Just when it looked like the Cardiac Colonials would strike again, as they brought it all the way back to a two-point game on another three from Prather, the Norse sneaked out for another free transition layup that turned into a three-point play due to the Colonials inability to get back and play sound defense in the paint.

Despite the let up on the defensive end, a dunk from Nikolaos Chitikoudis cut the score back down to just 75-73, but the Norse answered once again as LJ Wells rose up over Prather for a baseline midrange shot as the shot clock expired with just 1:33 left on the shot clock.

But, again, the Colonials got a big-time bucket from Chitikoudis to make it a two-point game. That was before the Norse turned the ball over due to stepping out of bounds as they caught the inbound pass. The turnover set the Colonials up with the chance to either tie the game or take a lead with under a minute to go.

After a near turnover forced Andy Toole to call timeout with under 20 seconds left on shot clock, Vargas penetrated the Norse defense and looked to have an open midrange shot but opted to try to pass to an even more open Prather in the corner.

Unfortunately for the Colonials, Vargas’ pass went over the head of Prather and into the stands for what ended up as the 15th and final turnover with just 14 seconds left. After the Norse sunk both free throws with just 11 seconds left, the Colonials took 10 seconds to score again which gave them no time to foul again and the game ended.

While it is not a must win so early into Horizon League play, Friday’s matchup at Detroit Mercy almost seems to be a must win for Robert Morris as the metric-monsters Oakland Golden Grizzles host the Colonials on Sunday.

The Colonials must go at least 1-1 on their road trip to the state of Michigan in order to stay within striking distance inside of the Horizon League.