Robert Morris Basketball
Wright St. Uses Game-Ending Kill Shot to Defeat Robert Morris in Comeback Fashion

Robert Morris (16-8, 8-5 HL) saw their six-game winning streak come to an end as they fell on the road to Wright St. (12-12, 6-7 HL) by the score of 66-64. The Colonials held a lead of eight points with just over two-and-a-half minutes left but failed to score a single point over the rest of the game.
While it was the Raiders defense that stepped up in the closing minutes of the game, the unsung hero for the Raiders was Andrew Welage who played the least amount of minutes of any Raiders player in the game. Welage was given the chance to put the Raiders on top with less than 20 seconds to go and he did just that on an athletic finish at the rim.
The Colonials had 11 seconds and a chance to go down the court to re-take the lead following Welage’s layup but the Raiders defense blocked Kam Woods’ potential go-ahead layup which clinched the comeback win for the Raiders.
Not only did the loss signal the end of the Colonials’ winning streak, it also knocked them off their path of claiming outright possession of third place in the Horizon League. Coming into the afternoon, Robert Morris had a chance to claim sole possession of third place with a win and a Purdue Fort-Wayne loss but they were not able to handle their end of business.
The Colonials jumped out to a quick 19-11 lead behind a fiery start from the field. The Colonials made nine of their first 11 field goal attempts which included 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Most of this output came from Woods who scored 13 of the Colonials’ first 24 points.
Woods finished as the game’s leading scorer with 22 points on an 8-of-20 shooting performance.
To combat the Colonials’ hot shooting, the Raiders switched to a 1-3-1 zone after the second media stoppage of the half and it worked as the Colonials went 4-of-12 from the following the defensive switch.
This allowed the Raiders to go on a 7-0 lead and cut the Colonials advantage down to just one as an and-one from Brandon Noel made the score 22-21. The Colonials finally stopped the bleeding with a layup from Woods just before the under-eight timeout.
Following the media stoppage, the Raiders used a three from Welage and a driving layup from Solomon Callaghan to take a 28-27 lead which was their first lead since the score was 6-5.
The two teams went on to trade the lead a few times over the next couple of minutes but just before halftime, Robert Morris used a 5-0 run to jump back ahead of the Raiders. The Colonials went into halftime with a 36-34 lead over the Raiders.
The first four minutes of the second half went by with both teams making baskets but the Colonials looked to finally pull away as they went on a 13-2 run. The run gave the Colonials a 10-point lead at 55-45 which was the largest lead of the game for either side.
Just as it looked like it was the Colonials game to win, the Raiders started to mount their comeback. They immediately answered with a 5-0 run themselves which turned into a 10-2 run and brought the Colonials lead down to just two.
The Colonials managed to go back ahead by six after a transition three from D.J. Smith but could not continue to pile on despite the Raiders scoring just one point on their next five possessions.
Amarion Dickerson pushed the lead to eight on an and-one slam with 2 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game but that would end up being the last points that the Colonials scored in the game. The Raiders ended the game on a 10-0 run and won it on Welage’s layup with 11 seconds left.
Other than Woods’ game-high 22 points, the Colonials only had one other player finish in double-figures as Dickerson scored 17 on a 6-of-11 shooting day. They also lost starting guard Josh Omojafo after just 13 minutes of game time due to an injury.
Noel led all Raiders’ scorers and was their only double-digit scorer as he ended with 17 points as he made seven of his 16 field goal attempts. Welage played just 12 minutes but finished with 8 points on a perfect shooting day. He went 3-of-3 from the field which included two triples.
Following the heartbreaking loss, Robert Morris is headed back home and will host Detroit Mercy on Wednesday evening at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials fell on the road to the Titans earlier this season by a score of 78-76.
