By Michael Deemer, Special to the HoriZone Roundtable
The Robert Morris men’s basketball team has reached the Horizon League semifinals for the first time since joining the conference.
The Colonials defeated Wright State 83-62 Thursday night in front of a sold out crowd that set a UPMC Events Center record. 4,058 people watched the one seed take care of business in dominating fashion.
Horizon League Coach of the Year Andy Toole and his squad avenged their loss against the Raiders on Feb. 2.
Ever since Wright State defeated IU Indy Tuesday night in the first round, senior Kam Woods has been waiting to get revenge.
“ If we got that win, we would’ve probably be on one of the longest winning streaks in college basketball right now,” Woods said. “So that definitely hurt us for more recognition worldwide. So we definitely need to get that win back.”
And that they did.
The Colonials came back down 10 points early on in the first half, but an electric 11-0 run sparked by DJ Smith and Alvaro Folguieras catapulted them to the lead. They would never lose the lead again.
“ Everybody always gets hyped when when I knock on down,” Smith said. “That definitely got the team going, so it’s always a great feeling when we go in.”
Robert Morris were throwing their bodies all over the floor. The key to the blowout victory was RMU diving after loose balls and getting offensive rebounds. 16 of Robert Morris’ points were second chance points. Toole said those points were key to the victory.
“ I think all the time you hear people talk about that one of the best times to shoot that three is off an offensive rebound and a kick out dagger,” Toole said. “We had a couple in that first half and certainly a couple big ones in the second half. Those shots gave us the breathing room necessary to kind of close the game out as we did.”
The Colonials will play Oakland in the semifinals on Monday night. Toole praised Golden Grizzlies head coach Greg Kampe on facing him for a third time.
“ Coach Kampe is as good as they get,” Toole said. “He can coach any team at any level. You’ve got to be able to be locked in and be connected as a group. You got to give your best effort. You know, they have great balance in their offense. He’s he’s a master of strategy and tactic. We know that we’ve got to be at our best.”
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