Short-handed Robert Morris Throttles Cleveland State to Extend Winning Streak

Robert Morris (17-10, 9-7) has been without key rotational forward Josh Hill for a handful of games now, and just lost starting point guard Albert Vargas to an injury on Saturday, but still flat-out dominated a red-hot Cleveland State (10-16, 6-9) squad on the road, 85-68.

Cleveland State battled Robert Morris for about 15 minutes, and even led 30-24 at the 5:37 mark, but the Colonials grabbed complete control of the game with a 21-3 run to close the first half. That run ballooned out to become a 35-8 scoring stretch early in the second half which allowed the Colonials to maintain roughly a 20-point lead throughout the remainder of the game.

Despite being down Vargas (7.9 PPG, 4.2 ASP) and Hill (7.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG), the Colonials received a game-high 25 points from Ryan Prather Jr. and an additional 15 points from Darius Livingston Jr., who started in-place of the injured starting point guard.

DeSean Goode added another solid stat line to what is becoming a potential Horizon League Player of the Year campaign as he added 14 points and seven rebounds.

Game Thread

Neither Robert Morris nor Cleveland State started the game hot, but despite that, the Colonials used some help from the bench to jump out to an early 17-11 lead. Part-time starter Ta’Zir Smith converted a tough and-one attempt while seldomly-used big-man Ubong Okon recorded a dunk and a layup early in the contest.

Even though the Colonials held a six-point lead, it was the offense of the Vikings that caught fire first as they had Chevalier Emery start their scoring run with a three before Jaidon Lipscomb rattled off eight-striaght points which gave the Vikings a 22-17 lead.

Nikolaos Chitikoudis ended the 11-0 run and helped start a small run for the Colonials, who scored the next five and tied the game. The Vikings immediately responded with an 8-2 run and led 30-24 with 5:37 left before the Colonials started to not only come back but pull away.

Prather started the eventual 21-3 run with his first of five threes that he hit in the game. Kaleb Brown followed it with a steal and transition layup on the ensuing possession before DeSean Goode intended the run to 9-0 with a three just seconds later.

A player that saw some extended burn due to the injuries was freshman forward Eddie Cooke III. While he would later suffer an injury that sidelined him later in the game, Cooke flashed some of his potential later in the Colonials’ long scoring run as he scored on two-consecutive possessions on put-back layups.

Lipscomb ended the 14-0 run with a three but that did not stop the offensive outburst from Robert Morris as it closed the half out with a 45-33 advantage.

Robert Morris opened the second half with the same sort of urgency and efficiency on offense as another bucket underneath from Chitikoudis and a three from Brown extended the Colonials’ lead to 17 points just two minutes into the second half.

By the time that the Colonials’ offense slowed down, if they ever actually did, the lead grew to 21 points after a 35-8 run that stretched from the three-quarters the way through the first half to late into the second. The Vikings slimmed their deficit down to 15 later in the half but back-to-back threes from Brown and Livingston push the score out to 70-49, essentially icing the victory of Robert Morris.

Up Next

Robert Morris now returns back to the UPMC Events Center for a home rematch against Oakland, the current second-placed team in the Horizon League. The Golden Grizzlies handed the Colonials their worst loss of league play back in January, a 23-point blowout.

Regardless, Robert Morris extended its winning streak to three games and is peaking at the perfect time of the season. With just four games left before the Horizon League tournament, the Colonials find themselves in fourth place in the standings and the chance to climb even higher.