D.J. Smith’s Big Second Half Leads Robert Morris to 22nd Win, Season Sweep of Milwaukee

MOON TWP, Pa. — Robert Morris (22-8, 14-5 HL) held just a two-point advantage at the halftime intermission of Sunday’s pivotal Horizon League matchup against fifth-place Milwaukee (19-10, 12-6 HL) but received a huge boost in the second half from one player which helped them pull away with the win.

D.J. Smith, who did not register a point in the first half of the game, capped off a 15-4 run early in the second half on back-to-back and-ones which proved to be the turning point of the game as the Colonials completed the season sweep of the Panthers win the 72-59 victory.

While he was not the team’s leading scorer, Smith scored all of his 15 points in the second half of the Colonials win over the Panthers as he shot 5-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from behind the arc.

“It was really big [to get him going] because he didn’t look as aggressive as he needed to be and then at the times he would try to be aggressive, it just seemed like the wrong time, he just didn’t look as comfortable as he needed so I think he only played eight minutes in that first half,” Robert Morris head coach said about Smith’s second half turnaround. “I thought in the second half, like just keep it simple, stay strong with the ball. … I think once he settled in, he was little more aggressive, he was able to see that ball go into the basket.”

The Colonials opened the scoring with a contested three by Josh Omojafo and then Amarion Dickerson followed him up with a tip-in bucket which gave Robert Morris an early 5-0 lead. The Panthers went on to answer with a three and another basket to tie things up before the first media timeout of the game.

The two team found themselves tied again at 10 by the next media stoppage before the Colonials started to build a small lead. A three from Alvaro Folgueiras and a fast break layup by Kam Woods gave the Colonials a 17-11 lead but just like before, the Panthers stormed back and tied it at 17 on two baskets from Faizon Fields and another from Themus Fulks.

The Colonials re-claimed the lead just before the third media stoppage when Folgueiras made a tough layup in which he hit the floor and drew an and-one call. He would miss the free throw but immediately scored a basket on the Colonials next trip down the court.

The Colonials capped off a 9-0 run on a three and a layup from Dickerson which gave Robert Morris its biggest lead of the first half when the score became 26-17. Yet again, the Panthers would answer with a run of their own as they score the game’s next six points before Dickerson stopped the run with a crowd-erupting alley-oop slam.

The Panthers hit a quick three in transition as the Colonials celebrated and had the opportunity to tie the game at 28 before halftime but Ismael Plet blocked Fulks’ shot into the stands with three seconds left.

The Colonials entered the intermission with a two-point advantage but needed to clean things up if they wanted to secure the win. In the first half, the Colonials shot just 12-of-31 from the field and allowed 11 offensive rebounds to go to the Panthers.

The main reason that the Colonials even held a halftime lead is because Milwaukee shot worse than them in the first half as they made just 10-of-36 field goals and 2-of-14 three-point attempts.

“We were just trying to keep it as simple as we could,” Toole said about the halftime adjustments. “Obviously, they were trying to take passes away, they were trying to blow up offensive sets and we just talked about being able to play through some dribble-drive and penetration principals that we have and I thought that led to a great finish by [Alvaro], a couple of those three-point opportunities because it put them into rotation.”

Smith opened the second half with a three and Woods followed him up with another as the Panthers scored two layups but the difference helped the Colonials grab a 34-28 lead early into the second half.

Following the threes, Dickerson scored four-straight points before the Panther began to crawl back into it as a three from Erik Pratt pulled them to back within five. Following Pratt’s three, Smith converted back-to-back and-ones before Folgueiras capped off the game-deciding 15-4 run with a layup.

The run by the Colonials gave them a 48-35 lead at the under-12 media timeout which was their largest lead of the game until the final minute. Needing points, the Panthers went on a mini-run as Pratt nailed another three-pointer which was followed by a triple by Aaron Franklin.

The back-to-back triples cut the deficit to single digits but that would the closest that the Panthers would get for the rest of the game as the Colonials pushed their lead back out to 12 points by the under-eight media timeout before eventually closing out the 16-point victory.

“We gave up a lot of one-on-one buckets in our last game to people that we shouldn’t have so if we give it up to a non-scorer then it is going to be loud,” Woods said about the team’s defensive turnaround on Sunday. “I think [Milwaukee’s] top-three guards all finished with single-digits so at least as a guard, we took our matchup and no one got off.”

While Smith’s points proved to be crucial, the front-court of Dickerson and Folgueiras led the way again for the Colonials. Folgueiras recorded his 12th double-double of the season as he posted a team-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. Dickerson added 16 points in addition to two blocked shots.

The front court wasn’t the only group to shine as in addition to Smith’s 15 points, Woods also tallied 15. Sunday’s game marked the second straight game that Woods nearly posted a triple-double as he is playing his best basketball down the stretch.

“I have just been feeding off of energy like every little play I try to just get more energy because I am playing the whole game so I have to find spurts where I can,” Woods said about what has fueled his strong play recently. “The loud plays, like the alley-oops and stuff they definitely boost me up.”

The win over the Panthers gives Robert Morris its 22nd win of the season which is the most wins in a season since the 2013 season when they also won 22 games. The Colonials will wrap up their regular season on Thursday night when they visit IU-Indy, a team that they defeated by the score of  106-53 just three weeks ago.