Robert Morris Roars Back to Defeat Youngstown State in Gritty Overtime Battle

MOON TWP, Pa. — In what was a rematch of last year’s Horizon League Championship, Robert Morris (9-4, 2-1) fought through a horrid offensive start and an unconscious shooter in Youngstown St.’s (7-5, 2-1) Cris Carroll to pull off a gritty 80-77 overtime win to jump above .500 in league play.

That's a #BobbyMo (overtime) 𝐖𝐈𝐍! #GRIT #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/2i0BmI2GeW

— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) December 18, 2025

Youngstown St. jumped ahead of Robert Morris early due to a 3-of-17 start from the field. The Colonials’ rough start allowed the Penguins to stay in control for the first 30 minutes of the game as they led by as many as 10 points, and by eight multiple times in the second half.

The Colonials finally came roaring back and tied the game up at 52 on a layup by Josh Hill before Ryan Prather Jr. put Robert Morris ahead for the first time all game with a tough, contested layup. at the 10:39 mark of the second half.

The Penguins immediately answered with a 9-0 run over the next five minutes to re-claim the lead, though the Colonials stayed within striking distance before Prather nearly put them back ahead with a three at the 1:35 mark. While he missed, DeSean Goode nailed his three-point attempt to tie the game at 67-67 with just over a minute left in regulation.

After Carroll’s turnaround midrange shot with one second left on the shot clock, and 35 second left on the game clock, put the Penguins back into the drivers seat, Albert Vargas managed to sink a pair of free throws that sent the game to overtime.

Carroll started the overtime period with a pair of free throws, but those would be the last of his career-high 31 points. After the free throws gave the Penguins a 71-69 lead, Goode went on a personal 5-0 run to give the Colonials a two-possession lead.

Vladimer Salaridze came up clutch for the Penguins following Goode’s scoring run as he scored the game’s next four points to put Youngstown St. back into the lead with 39 seconds left.

As the Colonials came down the court, down by just one, Vargas found a wide-open Prather on the wing, and he nailed the go-ahead three with just 10 seconds left that put Robert Morris up 77-75.

RYAN. PRATHER. JR. #GRIT #HLMBB pic.twitter.com/xy6gEOryYF

— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) December 18, 2025

Carroll tried to shoot a game winner on the ensuing drive but stepped out-of-bounds as he caught the ball in the corner which allowed the Colonials to close the game out with a pair of free throws from Goode, who played a majority of the second half and the entire overtime period with four fouls.

The Colonials defense allowed them to comeback from the early deficit as they turned the Penguins over 22 times and allowed just 3-of-10 three-point shooting in the second half and overtime periods after Youngstown St. went 7-of-14 from range in the first half.

Not only did the Colonials’ defense put pressure on the ball handlers and passing lanes, they managed to limit the preseason Horizon League First-Team selection, Carroll, to just one three after halftime. Even though, he scored 31 points on a very impressive 10-of-12 shooting night, which included 6-of-8 from downtown.

The Colonials outmatched Carroll’s career day with three big-time performances. Goode (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Nikolaos Chitikoudis (10 points, 12 rebounds) notched double-doubles while Prather scored a team-high 19 points as he went 8-of-12 from the field.

Another reason that the Colonials were able to mount the comeback win was the play of guard/forward Kaleb Brown who is really starting to carve a key role out in the rotation.

With the team missing Darius Livingston Jr., Brown handled the ball a lot when Vargas was not on the court. On top of that, Brown scored 9 points including two threes in the first half that really helped turn the tides of the game. In addition to his season-high in points, Brown added four assists, three steals and helped lock down Carroll following the first half.

Robert Morris will carry the momentum that it has built over the last two intense, comeback wins into the non-conference finale on Saturday. The Colonials will take their likely final ever road trip to Loretto, Pennsylvania to do battle with St. Francis (PA) before heading into the holiday break and eventually into the full swing of Horizon League games following the nine-day layoff.