Robert Morris Gives Alabama All They Could Handle in Opening-Round NCAA Tournament Loss

CLEVELAND — No. 15-seed Robert Morris gave No. 2-seed Alabama everything that they could handle for the first 37 minutes of their opening-round NCAA Tournament game before the Crimson Tide finally pulled away from the Colonials down the stretch, beating them by a score of 90-81.

The Crimson Tide’s speed and size proved to be too much for the Colonials to handle for a full 40 minutes as Alabama forwards Clifford Omoruyi and Mouhamed Dioubate combined for 35 points in the win over Robert Morris. Omoruyi went 8-of-8 from the field and finished second on the Crimson Tide with 17 points. Mark Sears led the way for the Crimson Tide with a team-high 22 points.

The main reason that the Colonials managed to stick close for a majority of the game was the play of the Cleveland native, Amarion Dickerson. He fouled out with less than a minute to go but he gave Robert Morris everything that he had. Dickerson
finished 11-of-22 from the field with a game-high 25 points. He added nine rebounds, six offensive, three steals and two blocks.

At the start of the game, Alabama showed the difference in speed and physicality as they jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before the hometown kid, Amarion Dickerson, got the Colonials on the board with a tip-in.

Following the first media stoppage, Mark Sears hit a floater for the Crimson Tide but Josh Omojafo answered on the other end with a baseline driving layup to make the score 7-4 in favor of the Tide. After that bucket though, the Crimson Tide really flaunted their pace as they went on a 7-0 run to go up by 10 points.

Just as it looked like the Colonials would succumb to the pressure, they answered the Crimson Tide’s run with a 7-0 run themselves which was capped off by Ryan Prather Jr. who knocked in a tip-in and then hit the Colonials first three of the afternoon. Prather’s run brought the Colonials back to within three.

The Crimson Tide answered with an Aden Holloway three in transition and then Darrion Reid layup to make the score 19-11 at the second media timeout of the half.

Coming out of the timeout, the Colonials finally managed to get the Horizon League Player of the Year winner, Alvaro Folgueiras, involved in the offense as he nailed a corner three but the Tide answered.

Mouhamed Dioubate hit one of his two first-half threes before Clifford Omoruyi hit a turnaround layup to push Alabama’s lead back out to double-figures. Then, just like earlier in the half, the Colonials could have shrunk in the moment but they did the opposite.

The Colonials started a run towards the end of the half which saw them pull all the way back to within three. The run started on a three from an unusual suspect, Ismael Plet, who is not known as a three-point shooter. Minutes later, Dickerson got the home crowd rocking as he three down a transition dunk which made the score 32-29.

After the Tide hit back-to-back shots on the other end, Dickerson brought them back again as he hit a pop-shot and then a three to make the score 39-36 just before halftime. Sears would make one free throw before the end of the half to make the halftime score 40-36 in favor of Alabama.

Even without star forward Grant Nelson in the first half, the Crimson Tide ate down low. The duo of Omoruyi and Dioubate combined for 25 points in the first half against the Colonials. Omoruyi in specific enjoyed a very efficient 7-of-7 shooting half albeit most of them came on the receiving end of alley-oop dunks.

The Crimson Tide kept their lightning pace up as the teams came out of halftime as Omoruyi started things where he left off in the first half with another alley-oop dunk. Folgueiras responded on the other end with a layup off a sleek pass from D.J. Smith.

The Colonials pulled within two just minutes later when Kam Woods hit a three and then Omojafo finished a transition lay after a steal. The back-to-back scores from the Colonials made the score 46-44 but then Sears pushed it back out to a two possession game as he nailed a three.

Following the first media timeout of the second half, the Crimson Tide saw their lead grow back to 10 points after a three from Reid made the score 56-46. His three forced a timeout from Andy Toole and the Colonials.

Something said at the timeout woke up Dickerson, who was already having a good game, as he went on a personal 6-0 run to cut the deficit to just four. His run included three-straight highlight buckets as he finished off an alley-oop and-one, a put-back dunk and then a reverse layup.

Dickerson then pulled them to within two later on as he finished off another alley-oop. After Aiden Sharrell scored two consecutive buckets, Dickerson flashed again as he got fouled on a layup which cut the deficit to just one when the score became 64-63.

The Colonials claimed their first lead of the game at the 7:10 mark of the second half when Josh Omojafo’s layup made the score 65-64 but the Crimson Tide jumped right back in front after Nelson slammed home a dunk and then Sears laid in a runner.

The Crimson Tide saw their lead grow to as large as 12 points in the final five minutes but the Colonials did not just go away. A three from Woods cut the deficit back to eight when the score became 79-71 but more free throws pushed the Tide’s lead back out and they were eventually able to close the game out.

With the loss, the Colonials see their historic season come to a close after winning 26 games, winning the Horizon League regular-season title and the Horizon League Championship. Alabama moves on to face the winner of Saint Mary’s and Vanderbilt on Sunday in the Round of 32.