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Robert Morris Fends Off Second-Half Rally to Defeat Drake in Overtime

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Robert Morris guard Albert Vargas on the sideline during the Colonials' matchup against Drake on Nov. 6, 2025 -- RMU Athletics

Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole might have cracked the code once again. After tooling together his first Horizon League championship squad a year ago, Toole followed the same blueprint in building this year’s squad.

Despite falling to Iowa in blowout fashion in the season opener, Robert Morris responded in a gigantic way as they took down the defending Missouri Valley Conference champions, Drake, in overtime by the score of 81-79.

Not only is it impressive to defeat a quality non-conference opponent on the road, the win against Drake snapped the Bulldogs’ 49-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents.

Following the game, Robert Morris propelled up from No. 243 to No. 206 on the KenPom rankings, while Drake fell from No. 123 to No. 138.

A handful of players, highlighted by Nikolaos Chitikoudis, showed flashes in Tuesday’s opener against Iowa. Many more stepped up and played key roles in the overtime win over the Bulldogs on Thursday.

While Chitikoudis still led the way in the win with his first double-double of the season as he put up a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, the Colonials received key second half and overtime contributions from guards Albert Vargas and Darius Livingston.

Vargas finished the game with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds but fouled out with three minutes left in overtime. That gave way for the freshman, Livingston, to step up and play a key role. He ended the game with 9 points including the game-tying and go-ahead buckets in overtime.

Drake and Robert Morris started the game with similar mindsets: feed the big man in the post.

The Bulldogs struck first when forward Okku Federiko used a post move to score the game’s first points. The Colonials answered on the other end by feeding Chitikoudis to do the same thing. Following a Bulldogs’ miss, Chitikoudis nailed a midrange jumper to give the Colonials their first lead of the season.

The Colonials used a 7-0 run to jump ahead by multiple possessions and the score stayed that way over the next few minutes.

As Chitikoudis ran into some early foul troubles, Robert Morris turned to forward DeSean Goode, who scored 11 of the Colonials’ first 28 points. Following Goode’s outburst, guards Cam Wilds and Livingston each nailed threes to push the Colonials lead out to 10 points at the under-four timeout.

The Bulldogs managed to cut into the Colonials’ double-digit lead over the final four minutes of the first half as they used a 7-2 run to enter halftime down by the score of 40-35.

The Colonials extended their lead to 50-42 early in the second half after a pair of threes by Josh Hill and Ta’Zir Smith. Despite finding more offensive success to open the second half, the defense began to slip for the Colonials, especially with Goode on the bench.

This allowed the Bulldogs to shoot out to a 10-0 run that ended up as a 16-2 run when it was all said in done. By the end of it, the Bulldogs led 58-52 which was their biggest lead of the night and the first time they led since the score was 8-6.

After Wilds got things going back in the right direction with a stop-and-pop midrange shot from the free-throw line, the Colonials went on a 7-0 run which was capped off with a three by Vargas. His three put the Colonials back ahead of the Bulldogs, 61-60.

The Bulldogs again answered and scored six of the game’s next eight points but Vargas nailed another three which knotted the game back up at 66-66 with just 1:26 left in regulation.

Following Vargas’ game-tying shot, his running mate Smith was called for his fifth-foul which not only ended his night as he fouled out, but sent the Bulldogs to the line for two free throws. After Will Exacte sunk both free throws to give Drake the two-point lead, Robert Morris turned to Chitikoudis once again.

After Chitikouids took in the pass under the hoop, he waited for the defender to fly over his back to sink the shot to tie the game at 68 points. The Bulldogs ended up missing a shot on the ensuing drive which game the Colonials the ball back with a chance to win it at the buzzer.

As the time ticked down, Vargas tried to get open on the wing as he attempted to win it for the Colonials but the Bulldogs defended him well and blocked his shot which sent the game to overtime.

Chitikoudis started overtime off with a hook shot from the post but Jalen Quinn answered on the other end for the Bulldogs with a three-pointer. Seconds later, Vargas outdid Quinn’s deep three with an even deeper three which put the Colonials back up by two.

After Chitikoudis and Federiko traded buckets for another time, the Colonials lost Vargas, who made multiple clutch shots to that point, with just over three minutes to go due to his fifth personal foul call. After sinking both free throws, the Bulldogs re-claimed the lead, 77-75, on an ally-top dunk by Isaiah Carr.

Toole decided to trust Livingston, a true freshman in just his second career collegiate game, to handle the ball down the stretch in-place of Vargas.

Toole made the correct decision as Livingston proceeded to tie the game back up with a clean midrange jumper before he put the Colonials ahead for good a with under a minute to go on a contested layup from the left side of the rim.

Livingston’s go-ahead basket came with 59 seconds left in the game which gave the Bulldogs ample time to try to score again which they almost did when Jaehshon Thomas watched his three-point attempt spin in-and-out with 37 seconds left.

After a Bulldogs’ challenge, the Colonials received possession of the ball up by two. Livingston dribbled the ball around and let time drain off of the clock before going for the dagger with just seconds to go.

His close-range shot attempt hit off of the rim and past every player before being picked up by the Colonials as time expired.

While there is still a long way to go in the season, the new-look Colonials showed grit and the ability to win a close game early in the season which will only help their confidence as the season progresses on.

After two-straight road games in the state of Iowa to start the 2025-26 campaign, Robert Morris will return to Moon Township to host Geneva at the UPMC Events Center on Monday night.

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