Robert Morris Falls to HL Preseason Favorites Milwaukee on Last Second Tip-In

Robert Morris (7-4, 1-1) has never started Horizon League play with a 2-0 record but after beating Green Bay on a last-second shot, the Colonials had their chance to accomplish that feat with a win over preseason favorites Milwaukee (4-5, 1-0).

It looked as if the Colonials had the the Wisconsin road sweep wrapped up after going up by as many as 13 points in the second half, but a poor shooting half and an improbable tip-in at the buzzer spoiled those plans.

Final pic.twitter.com/x5o5gdS9eZ

— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) December 7, 2025

Robert Morris stormed out to a 5-0 lead after a Ta’Zir Smith three and a layup from Ryan Prather Jr., but the Panthers swiftly responded with their own 5-0 run to tie things up.

A minute later, the Colonials stormed back ahead with another small scoring run which made the score 13-7, but again, the Panthers matched the run and the game became tied up at 13 a piece.

That was the story for a majority of the first half, as the two teams traded buckets for the next six minutes with the game being tied six more times before the Panthers built a small lead.

After the game was tied at 26-26, the Panthers used an 8-2 run that was fueled by back-to-back threes to take a 34-28 lead with 3:40 left in the opening half.

The threes would be the last points that the Panthers scored in the half though as the Colonials closed the half out on a 13-0 run, with DeSean Goode scoring nine of those points, and led by the score of 41-34 at the half.

Robert Morris opened the second half with the same intensity that it closed the first half out with and outscored Milwaukee 10-5 over the first couple of minutes.

Just when it looked like the Colonials could build a sizable lead and run away with the game, the Panthers came roaring back as an 11-0 run brought the score to 51-50 just before the under-12 timeout.

Like in the first half, the next few minutes saw both teams trade buckets before the Panthers used a 7-0 run to jump out to a 65-58 lead with just under seven minutes left. Despite that, the Colonials rallied late and cut the deficit to just one on a dunk by Goode with 1:12 left.

The Panthers had a chance to extend its lead to three with under 30 seconds left but Isaiah Dorceus only managed to sink the back end of the free throws which gave the Colonials the chance to either tie the game or win it at the buzzer.

The Colonials opted to not shoot the last shot as Josh Hill attempted to tie the game with 12 seconds but missed it. Fortunately for the Colonials, Goode was in great position to snag the offensive rebound and put it back up to tie the game at 72-72 with 9 seconds left.

That gave way for the Panthers to attempt a game-winning shot, which was a three-pointer by Dorceus that bounced off of the rim and into the hands of Darius Livingston, or so it would it seem. Just as Livingston got his hands on the ball, Seth Hubbard extended his arm backwards and managed to tip the ball up into the basket for an improbable game winner.

While the Colonials just needed a defensive rebound to send the game to overtime, the real issue in the loss was the second-half shooting as the team went a combined 9-for-30 from the field after shooting 50% in the first half.

Despite the loss, Colonials forward Goode dominated his opponent once again as he scored a career-high 26 points and hauled in eight rebounds. If Goode can continue producing like he currently is, and the Colonials can correct some of their second-half issues, Robert Morris will be just fine moving forward.

The road does not get easier for the Colonials any time soon though, as it will bounce in and out of league play throughout the remainder of the month.

Robert Morris has a home non-conference matchup with Toledo next Saturday before hosting Youngstown State the following Wednesday.