Robert Morris Routes Oakland Behind Career Days From Multiple Players

MOON TWP, Pa. — It is no secret that Robert Morris (18-10, 10-7) is hitting its stride at the perfect time as the Colonials are now winners of four straight after blowing out the current second-place team in the Horizon League by the score of 93-69.

The Colonials’ win over Oakland (14-13, 10-6) on Sunday was not only the most dominant all-around team performance of the entire season so far, it provided a sense of revenge for Andy Toole’s squad after the Golden Grizzlies embarrassed the Colonials back in early January, beating them by 23 points.

Not only did the win inch the Colonials closer to one of the exclusive top-three seeds in the Horizon League with just three games left in the regular season, it provided a notion of belief for the Colonial faithful as their team now owns wins over each of the three teams ahead of them in the standings.

Notables

Robert Morris played its most complete game of the season in the win over Oakland and in doing so, many Colonials put out career outings.

The Colonials had five different players score at least 15 points, they assisted 31 of 38 made baskets and effectively shut down two potential first-team players in Isaac Garrett and Tuburu Naivalurua.

In the first meeting of the season, Garrett (30 points) and Naivalurua (21 points) combined to give the Colonials fits down low. That all changed the second time around as the two totaled just 11 total points on a combined 3-of-21 shooting day. That was mainly because of the defensive work of DeSean Goode and Nikolaos Chitikoudis.

Goode and Chitikoudis did not just play an excellent defensive game, they outclassed the Golden Grizzlies in just about every facet of the game. Chitikoudis posted one of his best games of the season with a career-high 20 points in addition to 13 rebounds while Goode added 18 points and 12 boards.

Goode and Chitikoudis were not the only Colonials to have stellar games as the team’s leader, Ryan Prather Jr., quietly added 18 points, a career-high 10 assists (zero turnovers) and five rebounds. Ta’Zir Smith provided a spark off of the bench in his best game as a Colonial as he knocked down a career-high 10 field goals and four triples while scoring a career-high 18 points.

Darius Livingston Jr. also had one of his better games of the season. In just his second ever start, in-place of the injured Albert Vargas, the freshman hit a career-high five three-pointers and added 15 points.

Those were just the individual numbers. As a team, the Colonials assisted on 31 of 38 made field goals, which is the second most assists by a Robert Morris team in program history. They shot a whopping 58% from the field as a team, outscored the Golden Grizzlies in the paint 50-30 and won the rebound battle 40-31.

Game Thread

The game was a two-half story as Oakland stuck with Robert Morris throughout the first half before a 51-point second half helped the Colonials run away with the win.

Just seconds into the game, a few plays made it feel like it was going to be a repeat of the first showdown, as Chitikoudis picked up a quick foul and Naivalurua sunk a pair of free throws for the game’s first points. That was not the case at all though as what transpired after the free throws was the real tell of what was to come.

Chitikoudis got the Colonials momentum on the offensive glass early as he hauled in an offensive board and put it back up to tie things at two a piece before Livingston sunk his first of five three-pointers.

Following the opening minutes, the two teams settled into a fast-paced offensive rodeo as points came in succession. The game was tied at 8-8, 10-10, 15-15, 17-17 and 20-20 before the Colonials started to build a lead following the under-eight timeout.

A three from Prather on the other side of the media stoppage put the Colonials ahead 27-25 and they never looked back as the next couple of possessions lit up the crowd and gave them full control of the momentum.

Livingston followed Prather’s three with another one of his own before Prather got a tip-in and-one that was eventually followed by a crafty finish at the rim by Smith.

By final media stoppage of the half, the Colonials had opened up an 11-3 run and led 35-28. Brody Robinson, the Golden Grizzlies leading scorer, appeared to stop the run with a three over Livingston but the freshman went down the other end of the court and hit one right back on him.

Oakland managed to close the first half out on a 6-2 run which allowed it to trim a once eight-point Robert Morris lead down to just four at the break as the Colonials led 42-38.

Unlike in most of their previous games, the Colonials avoided a slow start to the second half as they scored the first three buckets of the second half which gave them a 48-38 lead.

The Golden Grizzlies were not out of it yet though as minutes later they mounted a small 6-0 run and got into the bonus after drawing consecutive fouls.

The small run cut the once 56-45 lead to 56-51 but that is when Smith really started to shine for Robert Morris off of the bench as he silenced the Oakland bench with a three. He buried another three just minutes later which helped the Colonials re-establish a double-digit lead at 69-58.

Smith’s second three of the half started what ended up as a 15-2 run that ended when the final media timeout of the game rolled around. By that point, the Colonials extended their lead out to 21 points as they led 81-60.

The fun did not end there though as Smith helped engineer another scoring run of 9-0 just minutes later as he converted on an and-one before sinking his fourth three of the half. That bucket put the Colonials ahead 91-64 and marked the end of the day for the Robert Morris starters.

The Colonials added one more bucket after the starters exited the game and it may have been the loudest bucket of them all as Jeremiah Littlejohn received a bounce pass in transition before rising up and throwing down a one-handed poster dunk over Garrett.

Up Next

Robert Morris now gets a week off before its next game when it will travel to Ohio for a rematch against the league’s current top team, Wright State.

The Colonials beat the Raiders by the score of 72-66 less than two weeks ago and will look to complete the season sweep next Sunday in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPNU.