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Robert Morris Basketball

Robert Morris Uses Most Complete Performance in HL Play to Defeat Milwaukee By Double Digits

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Robert Morris winger Ryan Prather Jr. drives against a Milwaukee defender on Jan. 22, 2026 -- RMU Athletics

Every single Horizon League matchup that is played from the beginning of December until the end of the tournament in March is equally important and the results from around the league from this week proved that as each of the top three teams dropped games against each of the bottom three teams.

While it really did not affect the position of Robert Morris (13-8, 5-5) at the time, when you couple in the 88-76 victory over Milwaukee (8-13, 4-6) later in the day on Thursday, it allowed the Colonials to make up some ground on the top four teams at the halfway point of Horizon League play.

Notables

Robert Morris played one of its most complete games of the season, and definitely the most all-around performance in league play, in its win over Milwaukee on Thursday.

Not only did the Colonials shoot an efficient 59% from the field and 53% from three-point range in the team’s largest win since Horizon League play started, their defense stepped up when it needed to against the Panthers.

On a night where it seemed like every open look resulted in points for the Colonials, the defense only needed to do so much and by limiting the Panthers to just 44% shooting and only 20 free throw attempts, they did their job.

The Colonials were paced by Ryan Prather Jr. in the win as he led all scorers with 23 points (19 in the second half) and had a team-high five assists. His performance marked his fourth-straight game with at least 20 points.

While DeSean Goode finished as the team’s second leading scorer with 15 points and eight rebounds, the Colonials received major boosts from two other players in the 12-point win over the Panthers.

The first player that shined was Kaleb Brown, who has moved into a starting role for the Colonials over the last couple of weeks.

Brown’s stat line is not eye-popping as he totaled just 8 points but he did the little things right, such as providing energy-rising plays which he did on two separate occasions in the win over Milwaukee. The first was as simple as diving for a loose ball and the other was a big-time close out block on a three-point attempt. Those were just some of the things that led him to leading the team with a plus/minus of +21.

The other player, and maybe even more impactful one, was freshman forward Samuel Obenjo, who totaled six points and three offensive rebounds in just 10 minutes. Obenjo did not play much in the non-conference portion of the season but Andy Toole has started to turn to the undersized freshman for defensive purposes over the last handful of games.

Not only did he step up on the defensive side of things against the Panthers, eliminating much of their pick-and-pop opportunities, Obenjo hauled in offensive boards on two separate missed free throws, tipped the momentum in the first half with a physical tip-in and even threw down a dunk in the second half that brought the crowd to their feet.

Game Thread

Robert Morris started the game hot as it made five of its first seven shots including three of its first four triples to jump out to an early 13-7 lead by the first media timeout of the half. That lead grew to 17-8 just minutes later before Milwaukee’s offense really settled in.

After playing solid defense over the first five or so minutes of the game, the Colonials were caught sleeping at the wheel when the Panthers threw their first punch of the game as a quick 20-7 run allowed them to jump ahead 28-24 just before the under-eight timeout.

The Colonials responded with a running floater by Prather and a three from Albert Vargas to reclaim the lead before the under-eight and eventually carried a 12-2 run that was fueled on Obenjo’s tip in and two cross-court dimes from Prather that turned into threes into the halftime break which put them up 43-35 at the break.

Robert Morris kept their foot on the gas to open the second half as the team combined to make five of their first six shots of the half while Milwaukee converted on just three of its first six. The offensive onslaught allowed the Colonials to push their lead back into double digits by the first stoppage of the second half as a three from Goode made the score 54-42.

Then, the next few minutes went similar to the start of the first half, as the Panthers started to make a small run but the Colonials matched the 6-0 run with one of their own and led 63-50 at the under-12.

To the Panthers credit, they never allowed the Colonials to run away with the game in the second half, and even cut the deficit to nine points on three separate occasions.

The last time that the Panthers got as close as nine was when the score became 79-70 just after the last media timeout of the game, but the Colonials eventually grew their lead back out to double-digits before closing out their largest victory in Horizon League play.

Up Next

Robert Morris will next suit up on Saturday afternoon when the team welcomes Green Bay into the UPMC Events Center in what will be the second of three-straight home games for the Colonials.

The Colonials moved ahead of Milwaukee after their win on Thursday and now has the chance to jump in front another team ahead of them in the standings when the Phoenix come to town. Green Bay sits at 6-4 in league play and already lost to Robert Morris back in December.

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