Robert Morris Picks Up Win No. 700 in Program History in Thrilling Win Against Milwaukee

Robert Morris (13-7, 5-4 HL) completed their sweep of the state of Wisconsin when they survived a fierce second half comeback from Milwaukee (13-7, 6-3 HL) on Sunday afternoon. The Colonials’ 81-79 victory over the Panthers marked win No. 700 for the Robert Morris men’s basketball program.

The Colonials led the Panthers by as many as 14 points in the second half before seeing their lead dissipate to just two. Then, the Colonials went back up by 11 points just for the game to end with the Colonials winning by just two.

Each time that it looked like the Colonials would run away with it, the Panthers used impressive, long scoring runs to crawl back into the game. The Panthers used runs of 14-2 and 14-3 in the second half to give the Colonials a scare.

Being able to close out Horizon League teams has not came easy for the Colonials this season as they had chances to win games at Detroit Mercy, at Purdue Fort-Wayne and home against Cleveland St. but could not. That makes a win like the one they just got against a tough Milwaukee team all the more important to the Colonials down the stretch.

The game started with both teams just trading buckets and the lead before the Colonials went on a 9-0 run that turned into a 15-4 run later in the half which gave Robert Morris a 29-19 lead. Threes from Ryan Prather Jr., D.J. Smith and Kam Woods aided the Colonials’ run.

Unlike most games this season where the Colonials’ shooters take time to warm up to the game, they came out firing against the Panthers, making 7 of their 15 first-half three-point attempts. A huge part of that outburst was Woods who started the game 4-of-5 from behind-the-arc which helped him eclipse the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career.

Following the Colonials big first-half run, the teams would again trade buckets as the Panthers eventually pulled their deficit back down to single-digits before halftime behind big first halves from Jamichael Stillwell, Kentrell Pullian and Erik Pratt. Stillwell scored 13 of his game-high 26 points in the first half while Pullian and Pratt each added nine.

The Panthers came out of the locker room trailing 45-36 but immediately went on a 5-0 run to pull back within four. The Colonials answered with a kill shot as they went on a 10-0 run which gave them a 14-point lead which was their biggest of the game.

During the Colonials 10-0 run, the Panthers went over four minutes without scoring a point and committed six turnovers during that span.

Then, just as quickly, the Colonials’ shooting went cold and they started to commit handfuls of turnovers. This helped the Panthers go on a 9-0 run that turned into a 14-2 run. The huge run brought the Panthers as close as two points down as they made the score 57-55.

A few minutes later, the Colonials tried to pull away again when they went on a 10-2 run that was fueled off of a three from Josh Omojafo that he followed up on the other end as he drew the charge call. Amarion Dickerson, who was limited to just four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, capped off the run with a put back tip-in.

Dickerson’s tip-in gave the Colonials an 11-point lead with 5:10 left in the game.

Just as it looked like the Panthers ran out of energy due to their first comeback attempt, they answered with a 14-3 run that brought the game back to a three-point difference as a converted and-one from Stillwell made the score 74-71.

Woods answered on the other end with an and-one of his own that the Colonials followed up with a fierce dunk from Alvaro Folgueiras, giving them a 77-71 lead.

Then, as the Panthers did for the last 12 minutes, they fought back as Stillwell scored his 26th point on a clutch three that made it a one possession game. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Stillwell fouled out seconds later which sent the Colonials to the line.

Smith converted just 1-of-2 free throws but it gave the Colonials a two-possession lead. Pullian trimmed it to a one-possession game when he nailed a free throw on the other end. The Colonials pushed it to a 5-point game with 23 seconds left when Omojafo slammed home a dunk.

Despite leading by five with under 30 seconds to go, the game was not wrapped up for the Colonials as Themus Fulks converted a pair of free throws that the Colonials followed up with a turnover on a double-dribble.

The Panthers chose to go for the tie with 7 seconds but the shot bounced off of the rim, fortunately it went right to Pratt who tipped it in to make the score 80-79. The time remaining forced the Panthers to foul Omojafo after the tip-in and he made just one of his free throw attempts.

With another chance to tie or even win, the Panthers had just five seconds and opted to go to Fulks who had his shot blocked by Dickerson with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. Their last ditch effort eventually came up short as the time ran out on the Panthers.

The Colonials were led Woods and Omojafo as each scored 15 points in the win over the Panthers. Folgueiras added 13 points including nine in the second half. Dickerson and Smith each finished with 12 points for the Colonials.

Stillwell’s 26 points led all scorers in the Panthers loss to the Colonials. Fulks and Pratt each added 13 points while Pullian scored 12 for the Panthers.

Next on the docket for Robert Morris is a third-straight road test on Wednesday night when they travel to Youngstown St. for a rematch with the Penguins. The Colonials opened up their Horizon League schedule with a 72-58 loss to the Penguins on Dec. 4, 2024.