Ryan Prather Jr.’s Explosive Second Half Leads Robert Morris Past Detroit Mercy

MOON TWP, Pa. — The last time that Robert Morris (20-10, 12-7) and Detroit Mercy (14-14, 11-8) met was in early January, and the circumstances were much different than when the two teams met up again on Wednesday night.

The Colonials were still trying to gel as a group after being predicted to be one of the best teams in the Horizon League while the Titans were trying to earn respect after a rough two-year stretch as a program and it showed when the teams took the court.

The Colonials struggled out of the gate, entered halftime with a small deficit before rallying off a 58-point second half to win.

Fast forward almost two months to the rematch and Robert Morris and Detroit Mercy entered as the two hottest teams in the Horizon League, both riding long winning streaks and in a three-way tie for second place with just two games left.

After the first few minutes of the game, it looked eerily similar to the season’s first meeting. The Colonials were struggling to score but were kept in it due to a solid defensive effort. They entered halftime down 28-26 and needed some more second half magic.

Ryan Prather Jr. provided that magic for the Colonials as he scored 26 of his career- and game-high 29 points in the second half to power his team to win No. 20 on the season, marking the first time that Robert Morris had back-to-back 20-win seasons since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.

Notables

Ryan Prather Jr. entered the season as the lone returning scholarship player from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. With that he went from the team’s sixth man to the go-to scorer and overall leader of the team. While he experienced an up-and-down start to the season, once Prather got things going so did the rest of the team.

Wednesday’s game mirrored how Prather’s season has gone as a whole. Like the rest of his team, Prather struggled in the first half against Detroit Mercy as he entered halftime just 1-of-7 from the floor and just three total points.

Then, he turned it on in the second half which not only powered the Colonials ahead of the Titans, but opened up a lot of space for his teammates to get things going.

Prather finished the game with a career-high 29 points and shot 7-for-11 in the second half which included him scoring 14 points in a row for the Colonials and a personal 12-0 run. During that time, Robert Morris went from trailing 52-49 to leading 62-52.

His 29-point performance also marked the eighth time this season that Prather eclipsed the 20-point mark in a single game.

Robert Morris guard Ryan Prather Jr. attempts a shot against Detroit Mercy on Feb. 25, 2026 — Ed Thompson // Pittsburgh Sports Now

With the win over Detroit Mercy on Wednesday, Robert Morris can clinch the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League Tournament with a win over Cleveland State on Saturday in the regular season finale. Also with the other results from around the league, the Colonials can finish no lower than third-place even with a loss this weekend.

Additionally, the Colonials are officially locked into hosting a home tournament game next Wednesday evening.

Game Thread

TJ Nadeau was a thorn in the side of Robert Morris in the season’s first matchup and he looked to be again on Wednesday as he scored Detroit Mercy’s first five points which helped it grow a 5-2 lead over Robert Morris early on despite both squads opening the game 0-for-4 from the field.

The Colonials looked like they were the first team to finally wake up in the pivotal matchup as a three from Ta’Zir Smith capped a small 5-0 run which put them ahead 7-5. That would not be the case though as the Colonials went scoreless for nearly four whole minutes until a second three from Smith pulled the Colonials back to an 11-10 deficit.

Despite Smith’s fast start off of the bench, no other Colonial player could quite find their touch as another four-minute stretch went by without them scoring a single field goal. One free throw from Nikolaos Chitikoudis was all that the Colonials could muster during that stretch.

The poor offensive start carried into the under-eight timeout where the Titans held a 22-13 lead. At that point, the Colonials were just 3-of-19 from the field while the Titans were shooting 50% as a team.

DeSean Goode finally got the Colonials back on the board at the 7:03 mark with a layup which snapped a four-minute, 55-second field goal drought.

Ryan Prather Jr. followed that up with a steal on the next possession which turned into a missed three for the Colonials. Luckily, Prather rushed to the corner for the offensive rebound before he pulled up and made his lone field goal of the half.

Darius Livingston Jr. then hit another three on the team’s next possession which made the score 24-21 and started to push the momentum back into the Colonials favor despite still trailing. Goode eventually tied the game at 26 a piece late in the first half but the Titans snuck an alley-oop layup in with seconds remaining to take a 28-26 lead into halftime.

Robert Morris came out of the second half with some vengeance as it opened the half on an 8-2 run thanks to Prather, as he hit a. three and then converted an and-one just minutes later. The run gave the Colonials a 34-30 lead and their first lead since the score was 7-5.

Detroit Mercy matched with a small 5-0 run itself before the two teams started to trade buckets. The trading went on until the under-eight timeout which is when Prather really caught fire. He hit a three to tie the game back up at 47 before he later sunk another three, in which he was fouled in doing so, to tie the game again at 52-52.

Prather made the ensuing free throw to put the Colonials ahead and they never looked back. Prather went onto to score nine more points in a row which gave his team a double-digit lead at 62-52. After Goode made a pair of buckets to match what the Titans did, the Colonials held a 12-point lead with just minutes left.

The Titans tried a late rally as. they managed to cut the deficit down to six at 67-61 but with little time remaining the Colonials were able to close out the win with a handful of free throws in the last minute.

Up Next

Robert Morris will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Cleveland State, a team that the Colonials beat 85-68 just two weeks ago.