Ezeigbo dominates in Colonials’ win
Photo Credit: Thomas Ognibene
February 15, 2020
MOON TOWNSHIP– Undefeated in Northeast Conference play, the Robert Morris University Colonials (18-6,13-0 NEC) took on the Fairleigh Dickinson University Knights (8-15, 5-7 NEC). The Robert Morris media called it “Senior Saturday,” and for good reason.
Nneka Ezeigbo, the only senior for the Colonials, had a tremendous day on the court. “I was so blessed to have my family there, and I was really blessed to have such a good showing in front of my family.” said Ezeigbo after the game.
At first, both teams came out of the gate slow as both teams would only score a combined ten points in the first five minutes of the first quarter.
After the sluggish start, baskets from Ezeigbo and company would put the Colonials up 15-9. It was pretty much domination from the Colonials the rest of the game, much like they have been doing in all of their conference games.
The Colonials were up 28-20 by halftime, and Ezeigbo was just absolutely dominating the paint, scoring 26 in the paint by the end of the game.
The next half was much the same from the Colonials as they would continue to find Ezeigbo in the paint for easy buckets.
“She just has such a high I.Q. for the game of basketball and her court presence is second to none.” stated head coach Charlie Buscaglia after the game.
The Colonials continued to grow their lead and remain in front throughout the third quarter. Then, as the teams entered the fourth quarter, Ezeigbo just took over.
She went on to get every rebound she saw and just took advantage of the defense FDU was throwing at her. She made her last bucket in the fourth quarter and then was taken out of play with under two minutes to go.
“I knew I could have been getting close, but didn’t realize until I was taken out. If I would have hit my free throws, I would have been at thirty even, but I guess I have something to work on tomorrow in practice,” said Ezeigbo on how close she was to 30 points.
The Colonials ran the rest of the clock out and managed to easily beat FDU by a score of 53-35.
Despite breaking their streak of over 200 straight games with a three-pointer made, the Colonials easily handled the Knights. RMU hits the road Monday to face Saint Francis University, looking for a repeat performance of this Saturday.
