Colonials’ season ends at the hands of Wagner

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Photo+credit%3A+David+Auth

Photo credit: David Auth

Matty McConnell and his RMU teammates tried to make one final push at a comeback with just over a minute left against the Wagner Seahawks. But ultimately, the Colonials were just too far behind in a 75-64 defeat in the Northeast Conference semifinals that would ultimately end RMU’s season, falling short in the NEC semis for the second straight season.

Seven of the team’s 10 baskets in the first half were from long range. Shooting 50 percent from three-point range through the first 20 minutes while shooting just 37 percent overall.

Meanwhile, Jojo Cooper for Wagner continued to dominate the Colonials like he had all season, putting up 14 points alone in the first half. His strong play would lead to Wagner’s 39-29 lead at the half.

The score sat at 69-54 with just under three minutes left and Robert Morris was looking to make one final push to keep their season alive. Matty McConnell brought the idea of a Colonial comeback to life when he hit two back-to-back three-point jumpers to cut the Seahawks lead down 7 with 1:34 left to play.

McConnell preached to his team in the timeout, trying to keep the energy up as the team was closing in on the huge Seahawks lead.

RMU head coach Andy Toole shifted his team into a full-court press, hoping to pressure the Seahawks into a mistake. The high-pressure Colonials defense managed to force an errant pass from Wagner and RMU would get the ball back, hoping to cut the lead down into its smallest of the entire second half.

But turnovers by both Chris Coalmon and Dachon Burke deflated the late surge from the Colonials as it was simply too late to make anything else happen.

Dachon Burke and Matty McConnell would be the only two Colonials to reach double digits in scoring as the Colonials would fail to even take a lead past the first five minutes of the game.

The Colonials would end their season with a 16-17 record, their third straight season finishing with a losing record.