MOON TWP, Pa. — Robert Morris (9-5, 1-2) picked play back up on Sunday afternoon when they hosted Northern Kentucky (7-7, 2-1) after an eight-day break in action. As things turned out, the Colonials needed every ounce of energy that they stored up over that break as they outlasted the Norse in the longest game in school history, 97-93.
“Obviously, I am thankful to come out win the win tonight,” Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole said following the game. “Both team played so incredibly hard for an extra 55 minutes. It was a really physical game. I think both teams just continued to battle, battle, battle. … I know our team continued to fight and that is the thing that I like the most and am most proud of and I think it can be another game that we can build on.”
The play of the Colonials front court players, Alvaro Folgueiras and Amarion Dickerson, shined brightest even on a day where Josh Omojafo threw down two SportsCenter worthy dunks on back-to-back possessions.
Dickerson led the way for the Colonials with a career-high 27 points. He finished with a double-double as he added 15 rebounds. Folgueiras nearly finished with a 20-20 game but came up just short as he posted 21 points and 19 rebounds.
“We should get them the ball more, probably,” Toole said laughingly about his front-court duo. “It’s been fun to watch those two and I think they compliment each other so well. There were a number of times in the game and in the season so far where they have been looking for each other on cuts, they have a good feel for where the other is. They are both so active and have great length. They are just playing at an extremely high level and they both play with a chip on their shoulder.”
While the Norse outshot the Colonials in every metric (field goal percentage, three-point percentage and free-throw percentage) and out-rebounded them by double-digits (13), the Colonials found a way to pull off another thrilling win.
Now, with two of their last three games ending in dramatic fashion and their rotation set with all of their players, Toole is beginning to learn a lot more about his team as they enter the stretch run of things with conference play heating up.
“I think we got a sense early on that we have guys that care and guys that are competitive,” Toole said. “[Dickerson’s] a guy that helped our program tremendously because of how much he cares and how much pride he has in the way that he performs and the way our team performs. Him and some other guys have really helped build that mindset.”
The game did not start the way that the Colonials had hoped as the Norse made each of their first four field goals while Robert Morris struggled to find offense outside of Folgueiras, who scored the Colonials first 8 points of the game.
The Norse lead by the score of 14-8 before another Colonials player scored a point.
Dickerson began to provide help to Folgueiras as he recorded a slam dunk and and and-one in consecutive possessions. Then, another bucket from Folgueiras pulled the Colonials back within three points. This is when Omojafo recorded back-to-back dunks that shook the building and helped give the Colonials the momentum.
The Norse did score the next 6 points by way of Randall Pettus II who made a stop-and-pop jumper followed by the game’s first three which came at 4:14 mark of the first half.
Over the final four minutes of the first half, each team’s offense played with more urgency and points started to pour in. The Colonials managed to re-claim the lead before halftime in large part because of two triples from Ryan Prather Jr. and another from D.J. Smith.
The Colonials walked into the locker room leading 36-32 at halftime after closing the first on a 7-0 run.
Robert Morris came out of the intermission with the momentum and extended their lead to 45-37 but then the Norse answered with a 16-2 run to not only re-claim the led but to go up by multiple possessions.
Later in the half, the Colonials used a 7-0 run to go back up by one with just under four minutes left. The teams would trade scores over the next few minutes. A three by D.J. Smith put the Colonials up by two near the end of regulation but the Norse knotted it up at 73 on a layup from Trey Robinson which sent the game to overtime.
In the first overtime, the Colonials struck first and quickly started on a 4-0 run. The Norse stayed in it and actually took the lead with 48 seconds left in the period on a three from Josh Dilling.
Kam Woods would answer on the other end as he gathered his own miss and laid it in to put the Colonials back in front by one. The game would be sent to a second overtime after Dilling made a late free throw to tie the game at 80 a piece.
In the second overtime, the Colonials only buckets came on triples from Woods and Ryan Prather Jr. but that was enough to help push the game to a deciding third overtime.
In final overtime period, Folgueiras opened things up with a layup before the Norse scored the game’s next four points to take a two point lead. Folgueiras answered that with another layup and the game became tied again. The Colonials finally managed to pull away on free throws from Woods and Dilen Miller in the closing seconds of the third overtime.
Smith added 13 points in the victory and finished as the team’s third leading scorer. Woods and Smith each scored 11 points for the Colonials.
In the loss, the Norse were paced by LJ Wells who posted 19 points. Robinson and Pettus II each added 17 in the defeat.
The Colonials will now hit the road and travel to take on Detroit Mercy for a Thursday evening Horizon League showdown.
