Kam Woods scored 20 of his 29 points in the second half to help Robert Morris (10-6, 2-3 HL) comeback and steal a road victory off of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (5-11, 2-3 HL). Woods led all scorers as he played his most efficient game of the season for the Colonials as he made 9-of-15 from the field and 3-of4 from three-point range.
While Woods shined offensively for the Colonials, their second half defense as a team was another bright spot in the win. The Golden Grizzles shot just 3-of-17 from behind the arc in the second half. Additionally, the Colonials defense forced scoring droughts of 3:52, 3:13, 2:39 and 2:37 in the second half.
Woods started the scoring off with a triple but it was the early play from Josh Omojafo that got the Colonials out to a 19-14 lead as he scored 9 of the points.
The Golden Grizzlies eventually fought back and took their first lead after 13-and-a-half minutes when the Jones brothers, Isaiah and Jaylen, made three consecutive triples for Oakland that gave them a 31-24 lead. The Colonials went 3:19 without a point which allowed an 11-0 run from the Golden Grizzlies.
The two teams traded points over the remaining six minutes of the first half and the Colonials went into the intermission trailing 39-32. The Golden Grizzlies went into the break with the lead mainly due to the play of their forward Buru Naivalurua as he scored 10 of his 18 points in the period and hauled in six offensive rebounds.
Needing a spark, the Colonials got one from Woods as the teams came out of the locker rooms as he scored the Colonials first 12 points of the second half. The Golden Grizzlies managed to answer on some of those possessions but Woods’ outburst helped the Colonials begin to cut into their deficit.
The Colonials used the momentum that Woods gave them to open up a 14-3 run that gave them their first lead since midway through the first half. On the run, Woods was not really needed as Alvaro Folgueiras and Ryan Prather Jr. each made multiple shots.
In that span, the Golden Grizzlies offense started to feel the defense of the Colonials as the went on to miss their next 11 field goal attempts which helped the Colonials extend their lead to 65-55 before DQ Cole finally broke their drought with a basket.
The Colonials pushed their lead back out to double-digits before the Golden Grizzlies gave them one last push. Oakland went on a 5-0 run and cut the Colonials lead to just six with 1:53 to go but then the Golden Grizzlies ran into foul troubles which helped the Colonials ice the game at the line.
Robert Morris made 22-of-26 free throw attempts with 16 of them coming in the second half.
The Colonials were paced by Woods but received solid outputs all around. Omojafo finished the game with 15 points as he went 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Folgueiras added 11 points and nine rebounds in the victory.
Greg Kampe’s squad was led by Naivalurua’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. Allen Mukeba added 13 points, Malcolm Christie scored 11 and Jaylen Jones posted 10 in the loss to the Colonials.
After rebounding after their tough overtime loss to Detroit Mercy with the win over the Golden Grizzlies, the Colonials will return to the UPMC Events Center for a two-game homestead as they host Cleveland St. on Wednesday and Wright St. on Sunday.
