Villanova Beats Robert Morris in Exhibition Game

On Sunday, Robert Morris traveled out to the Philadelphia area to take on Villanova in an exhibition game.

The Colonials surrendered the lead early, but came back in the first half to eventually take a 27-26 lead over the ‘Cats.

.@Antallah1 and-1 gives us the lead! pic.twitter.com/Cy9fYVOMZZ

— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) October 27, 2024

Villanova’s Jordan Longino and Eric Dixon went on an 8-0 run amongst themselves with a couple of minutes left in the first, extending their team’s lead. After Ismael Plet opened the second frame with a two-point bucket, ‘Nova looked to Dixon, Jhamir Brickus (La Salle transfer), and Enoch Boayke for four-straight buckets, quickly extending the lead to 51-37.

RMU’s Kam Woods then scored the next seven points for his team, hitting a layup, a jump shot, and a three pointer. Throughout the remainder of the half, the Colonials battled behind a balanced scoring effort, but couldn’t come within seven points in the final 11 minutes. Villanova won behind Dixon’s 28-point showing. Longino added 21 and Boayke added 15, while Brickus dished out ten assists in the 87-73 victory.

For the Colonials, D.J. Smith delivered 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting, going 3 for 8 from three-point range. Josh Omojafo also scored 15, going 5 for 9. Woods took a team-high 18 shots, making five of them en route to 11 points. Alvaro Folgueiras was 4 for 6 from the floor with 11 points. Folgueiras and Woods each grabbed six rebounds in the loss.

RMU shot 40% from the field as a team, and 41% from three-point range. The Colonials forced 14 Villanova turnovers, and only turned the ball over ten times themselves. ‘Nova dominated the rebound battle, grabbing 51 to RMU’s 27. The ‘Cats also scored 44 points in the paint, compared to the Colonials’ 20.

Robert Morris begins the regular season on Nov. 4 at West Virginia. That game will tip off at 7 p.m.