MOON TOWNSHIP– A tough loss Friday versus Jacksonville in the first game of the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic pushed the Colonials losing streak to three in a row. Hoping to right the ship before heading into conference play, the Robert Morris faced off against Fairleigh Dickinson in an old NEC rivalry game.
In the last game of the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic the Colonials took down the Knights by a final score of 97-86.
This game was dominated by the three ball with RMU shooting 11-28 from behind the arc. Most of that was carried by Josh Corbin who put up a career-high in three-pointers, going 7-14 from behind the line.
Corbin also put up a career-high in points too, as he led the team with 34 going 8-16 from the floor. Just as impressive, he was also perfect from the charity stripe going 11-11.
Coming off of a wrist injury that kept him out of a few games, Josh Corbin spoke on his night.
“It felt great, first I give all glory to God, my hand a couple of days ago I couldn’t even dribble a ball, so I just thank God. I was able to go out and help my team win.”
A big part of the game tonight was the absence of forward Markeese Hastings, who was assessed a one-game suspension for his part in the altercation that took place on Friday night versus Jacksonville.
“We missed him out there,” Toole said.
Talking about defending the glass, RMU gave up 20 offensive rebounds to FDU as well 26 second-chance points to the Knights.
Head Coach Andy Toole talked about what the loss of Hastings did for his team’s defending of the glass tonight.
“He’s a big part of it, their guards do such a great job at getting on the glass. I thought there were three or four times we got put in rotation, and their guards go with reckless abandonment to the glass,” Coach Toole said. “It is something that we have to get better at, we are not going to be very successful unless we can do a better job at handling our backboards.”
Robert Morris struggled to handle the fast-paced offense that FDU brought and that led to a close game at the end. The Colonials had a 20-point lead at one point in the second half and the Knights just kept playing their fast-paced game and RMU struggled to get a handle on it.
Toole spoke about his team’s ability to handle their fast-paced game tonight.
“We didn’t, we did not defend the way that we needed to and that was partly because of the pressure that they apply and the pace they play at. There were a handful of times we got the first stop but couldn’t get the second one.”
After a losing skid of three in a row for the Colonials, this win could give them momentum heading into an early conference schedule against two tough teams.
“We are on a day-to-day basis right now,” Toole said. “We have to finish out today and then worry about tomorrow. I hope it can.”
Robert Morris will take to the road as they open up conference play versus Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
