Cornell Holds Off Robert Morris in High-Intensity Affair

MOON TOWNSHIP – Aiming to win three in a row before transitioning into conference play, Robert Morris had a challenging test in front of them with a top-100 NET opponent in Cornell visiting the UPMC Events Center.

In a heart-pulsing game from wire-to-wire, Cornell held on for dear life to secure a 90-85 victory as the Big Red are off to their best start since the 1967-68 season.

Behind one of their best shooting performances of the season, hitting 57.1 percent of its shots from the floor, the Big Red (9-2) overcame a difficult first half and fought off numerous surges in the second half from the Colonials (4-9) to pull out the victory.

With Cornell establishing its high-intensity formula early, the Colonials quickly matched it and took it to the Big Red.

Robert Morris curated one of its best halves of basketball so far this season as the Colonials pushed it inside, but also triggered seven 3-pointers, including two from 6-foot-9 Alvaro Folgueiras.

Owning one of the top teams in terms of tempo in the country, Cornell scored at a high volume in the first half, shooting 55 percent from the floor with Chris Manon dropping in 10 points in the opening frame on his way to a team-high 20.

Apart of Cornell’s strategy, its press certainly became a headache for Robert Morris at times, but the Colonials found a way to breakthrough, including a homerun pass from Jackson Last to Markeese Hastings. The play would be eventually completed by Steph Walker as he ended the first half with a team-high nine points.

While Cornell scores at a high clip, 84.9 points per game entering the contest, the Big Red could not help themselves with 11 turnovers in the first half and a copious amount of second chances for the Colonials on the offensive end.

Josh Corbin turned in a 3-pointer at the 3:15 mark to extend Robert Morris’ lead to its biggest at 46-34. Corbin went on to record a game-high 22 points with five triples.

Feeding the offensive output for the Colonials was their play on the offensive glass as the Colonials grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and scored 23 second chance points on the day.

Although the Big Red fell behind by double digits, their stingy defense led to offense late in the half as their mini 7-0 run featuring an important triple from Jake Fiegen kept the game within five as the Colonials led 48-43 at the half.

The opening stages of the second half quickly turned into the Isaiah Gray show as he poured in nine points in less than three minutes.

Gray’s speed led to an angry one-handed dunk, which was followed by a left-handed finish on the subsequent play as the Big Red tied it at 50. All of that came after a triple from Gray to commence the scoring in the second half.

As the Colonials stumbled out of the gates to start the half, the Big Red could not miss as they hit their first 7 shots of the half and developed a 9-0 run.

Robert Morris finally started to turn things on as it closed in on the Cornell lead, especially with the Colonials’ shooting beyond the arc as Corbin nailed two triples and Justice Williams added his own.

Just as the Colonials tried to get back to a tied game, Cornell answered with a pair of impressive buckets, including a great cut by Manon as Gray found him and he went up with the one-handed slam. Sean Hansen then added a triple to keep Cornell ahead 72-67.

Establishing a paint presence, Walker took control in a huge way as he pulled down several offensive boards, leading to putback buckets and drawing two fouls in the process. His free throw to complete the latter three-point play brought the Colonials back in front with a 73-72 lead.

Walker amounted 20 points and nine rebounds in the losing effort.

Going nearly three minutes without scoring, the Colonials were once again on their heels as AK Okereke dropped in six consecutive points for the Big Red.

However, the Colonials responded after a plethora of empty possessions with some clutch shooting as Williams knocked down a triple and then followed it up with a fadeaway jumper, which was a part of his 15 points. Corbin then drained a massive trey to give the Colonials an 81-80 lead.

As the drama heightened, Cornell skipped back ahead as Gray drove towards the hoop and received the fortunate roll to put the Big Red up by one.

Gray’s play was an important force and catalyst for the Big Red as he finished with 17 points.

After a pair of free throws from Gray, Manon scored the ever-so-important bucket with 13 seconds to go as he finished with the right hand.

The Big Red fought off a feverish attack at the end from Robert Morris as the Colonials did not help themselves as they were 47.8 percent (11 of 23) from the charity stripe.

Robert Morris will now turn towards conference play with a matchup at Milwaukee on Dec. 29. Tip between the Colonials and Panthers is set for 8 p.m.