Robert Morris had an incredible second half, pulling away from what had been a close game to embarrass Green Bay on Saturday.
The Colonials led just 19-17 at the half, then burned the Phoenix to ashes in the second half for a 72-38 trouncing on the road. Robert Morris outscored the home team 53-21 over the final 20 minutes.
The Colonials had one of their best defensive efforts in program history in holding Green Bay to 38 points. The Phoenix shot just 21.6 percent for the game (11 for 51). The 38-point total is the fewest Robert Morris has ever allowed in a Division I road game.
"Defense usually determines whether you win or lose and offense determines by how much," coach Andrew Toole said in a university release. "I thought our defense carried us through the first half when our offense wasn't clicking. We have to keep working and keep getting better. Our focus needs to be about preparing and doing the right things to make us successful. We'll look forward to a good week of practice and get ready for some tough games coming up at home."
The Colonials snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in the Horizon League. Green Bay is having a disastrous season and, in the NCAA NET rankings, is the fifth-worst team in the country out of 363 Division I programs with a 2-19 record, 1-9 in the Horizon.
"We've talked so many times over the years how hard it is to win an NCAA Division I game," Toole said. "It doesn't matter if it's at home or on the road. It doesn't matter about the record. You have to go and play the game.
"I think we thought it was going to come easy offensively in the first half, but Green Bay makes you work and after watching their games on tape they're a solid defensive team. In the second half we did a better job moving the ball to get open looks. Hopefully tonight kickstarts a good stretch for us, especially after how we played in the second half."
Kahliel Spear led the Colonials with 19 points, while Enoch Cheeks had 13.
Robert Morris opened the second half with an 11-0 run, and it was blowout city after that as the Colonials poured it on against the Phoenix.
Robert Morris' next game is at home Friday night against Detroit Mercy. That team is led by Antoine Davis, who just became the second-leading scorer in Division I history with 3,274 points. Davis scored 41 points in Detroit Mercy's 87-75 home win over the Colonials last week and set the NCAA career 3-pointers made record during that contest.
THE ESSENTIALS