MOON TOWNSHIP – Days after Robert Morris executed its biggest victory against a conference adversary since joining the Horizon League, the Colonials faced a stiff challenge in the Wright State Raiders.
The top shooting team in the nation was as advertised as Wright State rattled off nine-straight makes to start the contest as the Raiders led from wire-to-wire for the third consecutive game, defeating the Colonials 101-76.
It wasn’t just that Wright State (9-9, 4-2) couldn’t miss, but the Raiders were dropping shots in with ease. They didn’t miss their first shot until 5:23 into the game. Robert Morris (5-12, 1-5) had already missed more than they wished for.
A team that averaged 53.7 percent from the floor, yet again shot the lights out as the Raiders hit 60.7 percent of its looks from the floor as they registered their fourth 100-point win of the year.
The Raiders were led by a masterful outing from graduate senior Tanner Holden, who put together his best performance of the season, pouring in 29 points, along with five assists and five steals.
Wright State took care of any miscue that the Colonials had to offer in the first half as the Raiders led the latter part of the half by 20 points.
6-foot-8 forward Brandon Noel stretched the floor as he went to work in the paint, while also nailing 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. Noel and fellow big man AJ Braun were located several times on poor switches from the Colonials, letting them roam free under the hoop.
Noel and Braun scored an identical 17 points apiece. Noel registered a game-high 12 rebounds.
There was a sense of pure chaos that Wright State played with in order to open up looks for their shooters. The movement and pace the Raiders played with took RMU off its game after the Colonials put up their most respectable defensive performance against IUPUI nearly a week prior.
Guards Trey Calvin and Holden continued to measure up shots with ease and knock them down. Calvin, who averages 19.9 points per game, was left open far too many times as he made the Colonials pay the price from deep.
As Robert Morris chased the scoreboard, it resorted to a trigger-happy approach from 3-point land, which at times worked and at other times was hideous. Steph Walker’s 15 first-half points benefited from knocking down two treys.
Walker continued to grind in the second half as he formed the only truly inspired performance of the evening from a player in a Colonial uniform.
The sophomore ended the evening with a team-high 18 points and eight rebounds.
Any time the Colonials started to do something right, they reverted to their mistake-ridden game. After TJ Wainwright went one for two at the free throw line midway through the second half, he managed to come up with the ball after the Colonials forced a turnover. He connected on a corner three. Moments later, he turned the ball over after some miscommunication.
Even as Wright State returned to humanly form in the second half, not making nearly as many shots as the Raiders did in the opening half, Holden and company continued to push towards the paint and finish at the rim.
The Raiders added 12 3-pointers in the winning effort as Calvin attributed for four of those makes on his way to 14 points.
On the other end, Robert Morris’ early struggles from the floor proved to be disastrous as the Colonials finished shooting 37.1 percent from the floor (26-of-70).
Justice Williams added a quiet 14 points in the loss, along with 10 points from Jackson Last
Robert Morris returns to the hardwood on Friday to take on conference-leading Purdue Fort Wayne. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
