Robert Morris’ balanced attack tames Titans
Ashya Klopfenstein drives against Daija Moses of Detroit Mercy. Photo credit: Tyler Gallo
January 30, 2022
MOON TOWNSHIP– After defeating Oakland on Friday night, Robert Morris (9-10, 7-7 Horizon) had their eyes set on winless Detroit Mercy (0-13, 0-19) on Sunday afternoon.
Three players eclipsed double digits as RMU rolled to its second consecutive win, clipping the Titans 68-56.
Associate head coach Scott Schneider spoke on the team’s effort after the game, a game which saw RMU give up a 12-0 run and then go on one of their own.
“We really focused on the mentality of earning with our defense and [in the first half], we weren’t focused,” he said. “They had will and they were carving us up. In that timeout, we didn’t really talk about offense… we started hitting shots and building off of that.”
Both teams were off to a slow start as neither could get anything to fall early on as they shot a combined 6-18 halfway through the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the Colonials led by one point. Esther Castedo led the way with seven points.
Once the second quarter began, the Titans went to work with the aforementioned 12-0 run to give them a six-point lead. Castedo hit a three to end the run and get RMU back in the game.
Great passing and team defense gave RMU their own 12-0 run which propelled them into the lead. At the half, the Colonials led 29-26.
Rebecca Dwomoh came off the bench and added four points to help out. A 5-0 run for RMU helped expand the lead as they continued to pass the ball very well and made it hard for the Titans to keep up.
Midway through the third quarter, the Titans were fighting hard but some great post play by Ashya Klopfenstein helped the Colonials down low all afternoon.
Klopfenstein spoke on the week leading up to this game and the physicality that they built throughout the week of practices.
“We really beat each other up in practice this week,” Klopfenstein said. “It has not been easy working hard in practice. It should be tougher than the games and I think that helped a lot.”
In the end, it was a six-point game and it looked as if the game was going down to the wire as both teams were playing really good defense.
To begin the final quarter, the Colonials went on a two-minute scoring drought which gave the Titans a shot. With the game so close, RMU went to what they know so well and that is distributing the ball well, which helped them gain some breathing room.
RMU played lockdown defense to gain a 10 point lead late with a 7-0 run. The lead was too much for Detroit to overcome as the Colonials pulled away and get the 68-56 win.
Schneider mentioned how this team has continued to grow throughout the season.
“I think we’re growing, I always say this team is built for March,” Schneider said. “That means you are a work in progress right now. There will be tougher days, but we’re still getting better.”
The Colonials are back in action Thursday night when they hit the road to take on Milwaukee at 8 p.m.
