RMU puts up a good fight before losing to Alabama

Heading into the Alabama and Robert Morris game, the biggest question was would Grant Nelson play for Alabama. Since Alabama was a 2-seed and RMU was a 15-seed, there was some speculation that the Crimson Tide might not push Nelson (who is dealing with a strained patellar tendon in his left knee).

Although he was in the starting lineups that were passed out, Nelson didn’t start and it looked like they were saving him for the next round. But then Bobby Mo caused some Horizon madness and played toe-to-toe with the Crimson Tide to force their hand.

Nelson only had five points in seven minutes but it may have been the most impactful seven minutes by anyone on Alabama all day.  In front of a crowd filled with RMU fans who made the quick two hour drive, the Crimson Tide needed it.

With Nelson still sitting, Alabama started freshman Labron Philon, Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Clifford Omoruyi, and Jarin Stevenson. The Colonials countered with Amarion Dickerson, Josh Omojafo, Alvaro Folgueiras, Kam Woods, and DJ Smith. Alabama got out quick after winning the tip with their first of many alley-oops.

RMU played Alabama well for the first few minutes and saw themselves only down 5-2 at the first media timeout. Then it got slightly ugly. A 9-2 run by the Crimson Tide put RMU on their heels early down 14-4.

In the first of many “we aren’t going down easy” runs by RMU, they got a quick bucket, block, and subsequent bucket to pull within six points. Ryan Prather Jr. added a three and suddenly they were within a possession. 

With Alabama averaging over 90 points a game, they continued to push the ball and responded with a quick three and another bucket. Stevenson next took a hard fall on a block by RMU and came up holding his hand/wrist (he would return later in the game) and RMU scored during the five on four. 

RMU tried to get closer but some bad rebounding followed by another ‘Bama Slam(a?) again padded their lead. Even when Folgueiras hit his first shot of the half (a three), they responded immediately with a three of their own.

RMU couldn’t get within eight points for a few minutes as the deficit continued to fluctuate between ten and eight. A three by Ismael Plet finally broke the ice before Folgueiras made a beautiful turn-around lay-up. A fast break by the Colonials suddenly had the Alabama lead at just three and then five at the last media timeout (34-29).

Alabama tried to finish the half on a run and grew their lead to eight but Dickerson was starting to have himself a day (13 points at half). His three with a bit over 11 seconds to go in the half cut it to 39-36. Sears split a pair of free throws before the half but RMU was only down 40-36 at halftime.

With Dickerson doing the scoring and Woods (four assists) dishing out the ball, RMU was doing all the little things. They only had one turnover in the first half (compared to five by Alabama). Alabama was beating RMU with their alley-oops and inside offense. They had 13 assists at half and many were on lobs to Omoruyi (15 points at half).

The second half started with more of the same: an Alabama alley-oop. Some sloppy play by both teams went back and forth until Woods cut into the Crimson Tide lead with a three. Another runout by RMU put them back within two points.

Sears started to heat up (he only had three points in the first half) with a three and within seconds Alabama was back up by seven. Folgueiras flew in for a great rebound and got fouled to go to the line as RMU again cut into the lead. Alabama’s offense wouldn’t stop, though, as they hit a three as the shot clock expired to go up 56-46.

Slowly but surely the Colonials made it a game. A steal and put-back dunk by Dickerson then another bucket by him had the deficit down to only four points. Of course, Alabama immediately threw down another alley-oop.

A Folgueiras dunk on another fast break plus another(!) Dickerson bucket closed the gap to two points. Alabama was on the ropes and in came Nelson at the 8:47 mark. Alabama Head Coach Nate Oats said the decision to put him in was a quick one. “We were hoping not to play Grant [Nelson], but I think it was a four-point game and Grant, about eight minutes to go, he stood up, like, hey, put me in, and we had to go.”

RMU Head Coach Andy Toole echoed how much this meant to the game, “Well, the fact that [Nelson] had to come on I think is a credit to these guys. We tried to put him in some actions to try to test him a little bit, but obviously, he made some plays late.”

Another Folgueiras bucket plus another Dickerson bucket (plus free throw) and it was a one-point game after the under-8 minute media timeout. Dickerson showed his defensive prowess with an obliteration of a block. A layup by Omojafo and RMU had their first lead of the day (65-64). It wasn’t for long though as Nelson got in on the alley-oop game and grabbed back the lead.

The Nelson bucket started a 6-0 run by the Crimson Tide and the Colonials would never fully recover. Dickerson would fall to the floor hard on a foul and split the pair of free throws but then Alabama started getting everything to go their way.

The deficit grew from six to nine on a Sears layup and free throw. Woods hit a three with just under 2:30 to go in the game to make it an 8-point spread, but it was close to over. He would then foul out less than a minute later.

Dickerson would follow Woods to the bench as he fouled out less than a minute later. Alabama did not let up and won 90-81. RMU had given them everything they had, but came up just short. “I think they were able to kind of use some size and strength to be able to put themselves — put us at disadvantage and then resulted with them getting to the free-throw line,” said Coach Toole.

Dickerson finished with 25 points and nine rebounds back in his hometown of Cleveland. Folgueiras added a double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds) while Woods had 8 points, 7 assists, and 8 rebounds. Dickerson said the crowd was certainly amazing. “ It definitely felt like we [were] back at Bobby Mo.”

Sears ended with 22 points (19 in the second half) and 10 assists. Philon only had one point, but he added 8 assists of his own. Mouhamed Dioubate and Omoruyi combined for 35 points.

RMU actually made more threes than Alabama (7 to 6) but Alabama outshot them 59% to 42% from the floor. RMU also out-rebounded Alabama 39-37 (including 16 offensive boards). At the end of the day, Alabama was deeper than RMU (41-11 bench points) including bringing in Nelson.

RMU ends their season 26-9 but certainly put up a fight against the most high-powered offense in the nation. Woods put it best, “just the end game, I feel like we got a good end game. Even though we’re sad, that’s one of the best mid-major end games of the year.”

Maybe going forward the Horizon League won’t be so overlooked because of the last few NCAA tournaments. When asked about Alabama overlooking the Colonials, Coach Oats agreed. “I mean, I would hope our guys are mature enough not to overlook them, but I do agree with you that based on the energy when the game got tight in the second half and the energy previous to that, it wasn’t quite the same.” He continued, “I don’t want to say we overlooked them, but it certainly looks like it with the effort at times in the game, especially on the rebounding side of it.” 

Next season let’s hope the league gets some more respect (and maybe a 13-seed). Coach Toole sounds like he thinks this too. “To me, the Horizon League is underrated. That’s what I would describe it as. I think people don’t understand how good a league it is, how good the coaches are, how good the players are, night in, night out, what you have to do in order to be able to win games in that league.”

Coach Toole has plenty to build off of this season, but he already thinks this RMU team should go down in history. “I told them in the locker room, they’re, I’m sure I’ll get some text messages about this, but the best RMU team ever put together, what they accomplished, tying the program record for wins, winning the Horizon League regular season championship, winning the post-season tournament, coming in here as a 15-seed and going toe-to-toe with Alabama, I think they’re the greatest team in RMU history.”