MOON TOWNSHIP — The Robert Morris Colonials men’s basketball team (8-9, 3-1 NEC) hits the road this weekend. The team is set to take on the Bryant Bulldogs (5-10, 2-2 NEC) on Saturday, Jan. 19. Both teams lost their previous game with the Bulldogs being defeated by the Sacred Heart Pioneers (7-10, 3-1 NEC). The final score of that game was 98-70 in favor of the Pioneers. The Colonials lost to the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (8-8, 2-2 NEC). The final score of that game was 80-73 in favor of Blackbirds.

The Colonials will then continue their road trip when they travel to Connecticut to take on the Central Connecticut Blue Devils (8-9, 2-2 NEC) on Monday, Jan. 21 at 3:30 p.m. The Blue Devils have a two-game win streak with one of those wins coming in double overtime. Their last wins came against Mount Saint Mary’s (3-14, 0-4 NEC) and Fairleigh Dickinson (6-10, 1-3 NEC).

Recapping RMU

The Colonials lost their previous game to LIU Brooklyn in a close game. The Colonials had a 41-37 lead in the first half, but the Blackbirds kicked their play into high gear in the second half and scored 43 points while the Colonials only scored 32. The most notable players from RMU that game was Josh Williams who had 20 points along with four assists and Matty McConnell who had five rebounds. The top players for the Blackbirds were Raiquan Clark who had 24 points, Ty Flowers who had eight rebounds and Jashaun Agosto who ended the game with nine assists.

Scouting Bryant

The Bulldogs lost their last game to the Sacred Heart Pioneers. The Bulldogs never led in the loss as the Pioneers had the lead from the start to the end of the game. In the first half, the Pioneers put up 51 points while the Bulldogs only got 27, and in the second half, the Pioneers did not let up as they scored 47 points and the Bulldogs scored 43. The highlight players from the Bulldogs were Joe Kasperzyk scored 21 points, Patrick Harding who had recovered 12, and three Bulldog players had 2 assists. The star players for the Pioneers were Sean Hoehn who scored 23 points, Jare’l Spellman who had 13 rebounds and Cameron Parker who had 12 assists.

Scouting CCSU

The Blue Devils won their last game against the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers. The Mountaineers had the lead in the first half when they scored 32 points while the Blue Devils had only 21 points. In the second half the Blue Devils came out with revenge as they scored 51 points while the Mountaineers only scored 36 points. The memorable players of the game for the Blue Devils were Deion Bute who had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Tyler Kohl who added 17 points and eight rebounds in addition to eight assists and Ian Krishnan who scored 13 points in the second half. The players that had a good game for the Mountaineers were Omar Habwe who scored 17 points plus six rebounds and Damian Chong Qui who added seven assists.

Players to watch

Josh Williams (RMU): Williams has the most minutes on the court which gives him the opportunity to be one of the highest scoring Colonials on the squad so far. He also maintains a steady number offensive and defensive rebounds. The teams going against the Colonials should watch out for his ability to move the ball around the court and steal the ball back from the opposing team.

Malik Petteway (RMU): Petteway has played in every game, and he has made impressive work in recovering the ball. He has 33 offensive rebounds and 61 defensive rebounds on the season. He leads the team in blocks with 23 and has the same amount of steals too. He is also second on the team in field goals made with 71.

Matty McConnell (RMU): McConnel leads the team with 32 steals and has 67 total rebounds with an average of 3.9 rebounds per game. He has 55 assists and eight blocks in all the games so far in the season. He has 145 total points scored on the season with an average of 8.5 points per games.

SaBastian Towne (BRYANT): Towne leads the team in free throws with 57 and has the most rebounds with 79. He has 32 offensive rebounds and 47 defensive rebounds in addition to his 215 total points scored on the season. He has 10 three-point shots made with eight steals and 13 assists.

Adam Grant (BRYANT): Grant has the most amount of minutes on the court and is the highest scoring in field goals with 77 and three-point shots made with 39. He has 18 steals on the season with 37 total rebounds. Offensively, he has 13 rebounds and defensively he has 24 rebounds along with 26 assists so far this season.

Byron Hawkins (BRYANT): Hawkins has played in all of their games and has 66 field goals with a shooting percentage of 36.1, he has made 25 three-point shots, and with a 28.4 percentage. He also has made 38 free throw shots and has 35 offensive and defensive rebounds.

Ian Krishnan (CCSU): Krishman has racked up 577 minutes on the court which is the most on the team and he also leads the team in field goal shot made with 77. He has 41 three-point shots made and has 39 total rebounds with 5 offensive and 34 defensive. He also has 24 assists and 226 total points scored plus 16 steals.

Tyler Kohl (CCSU): Kohl has made 97 field goals with a percentage of 43.9. He has 25 offensive with 81 and a total of 106 rebounds on the season. He has 22 steals and 73 assists plus a total of 296 points scored so far in the season.

Jamir Coleman (CCSU): Coleman has a total of 75 rebounds with 18 being offensive and 57 being defensive so far this season. He isn’t one of the players that scores very often, but he has 12 assists, 12 blocks and 16 steals to make up for it.

Predictions

The Colonials ability to score and recover the ball on rebounds will give them the edge to beat the Bulldogs. Even though the game will definitely be close I predict in the end that the Colonials will come out being the victors with a final score being 90- 85.

In a hard fought game between the Colonials and the Blue Devils, I predict that the Colonials will come out with a victory. The Blue Devils will have the lead most of the game but in the end, I think the Colonials will pull off the win with a score of 83-79.

The Colonials next game after the road weekend is back on their home court against Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24.