Could Robert Morris actually find a way to get into the NCAA Tournament?
That seemed highly unlikely a couple of weeks ago, but it's not so far fetched after what the Colonials have done in their past two games.
Robert Morris played a phenomenal second half Tuesday night at UPMC Events Center and crushed Horizon League leader Youngstown State, 83-64, for its fourth consecutive victory.
That win came after the Colonials clobbered second-place Milwaukee, 80-60, their last time out. Both games were part of a big three-game homestand that has turned around the season.
Robert Morris is now 15-15 overall and 10-9 in the Horizon with one more game remaining Thursday at IUPUI. The conference tournament starts next week.
Prior to this winning streak, there wouldn't have seemed like much hope that the Colonials could make the kind of run necessary to win the Horizon League tourney and earn an NCAA Tournament bid. But after pounding the top two teams in the league in back-to-back games, it would indicate this Colonials team could indeed have what it takes if it can put everything together on any given night.
Robert Morris trailed Youngstown State at the half, 36-32, and was down 43-38 early in the second half. But then the Colonials ran off 19 straight points to stun the Penguins, and the home team went on to win easily after that.
"I thought we were excellent on both sides of the ball in the second half," coach Andrew Toole said. "We were able to maintain that for the entire 20 minutes. Youngstown State is a talented offensive team, and I thought we handled their push in the first half and were successful slowing them down in the second half.
"We just want to try and string as many good possessions together as we can and see where that takes us. We've done a good job of late, but we have to continue to do that as frequently as we can and as often as the game asks us to."
The Colonials shot a sizzling 63 percent from the field (34 of 54) for their best shooting percentage against a Division opponent since 2013.
Josh Corbin led Robert Morris with 19 points, while Kahlil Spear and Enoch Cheeks had 15 apiece.
"I knew how important this game was," Spear said. "I wanted to come out and set an example for my teammates and try and bring some energy on defense. When I'm making those blocked shots and getting those tough rebounds, I can tell it energizes my teammates.
"We didn't play well in the first half and to our standard. In the second half we were getting stops and getting stops and getting rebounds. Staying with that was big for us."
THE ESSENTIALS
