A Wednesday night tilt at the UMPC Event Center saw two of the hottest teams in the Horizon League pitted against each other as the regular season winds down. Ryan Prather’s career high of 29 points fueled Robert Morris to a key 73-62 victory over Detroit Mercy.
Coming into the matchup, Robert Morris had won five straight, while Detroit Mercy had claimed six victories out of their previous seven games.
From the first whistle, the tone was set between two of the bottom three scoring teams of the Horizon League. From blocks to strong pressure, it was a low-scoring affair and a tight contest throughout the entire first twenty minutes.
As the first half wore on, the Colonials went cold from the field, and the Titans made them pay, going on an 11-3 run where RMU’s only points were from the free throw line. Detroit Mercy extended their lead as large as 22-13 in the first half, backed by T.J. Nadeau’s ten-point frame.
However, a turnover by the Titans that led to a Desean Goode fast-break layup sparked Robert Morris to flip the script and go on a mini run of their own. The Colonials’ push, which featured three different players hitting from behind the arc once each, saw them battle back to a 28-26 deficit at halftime against Detroit Mercy.
Coming out of the locker room, the teams picked up the pace and the scoring, going back and forth with six lead changes in the first 10 minutes. No team gathered a lead larger than four points.
For Robert Morris, Ryan Prather showed up in the second half after a quiet start to the game, amassing more points in the back half than the Colonials totaled in the first half. As the Colonials trailed by three points with under six minutes remaining, Prather had his number called and hit a massive three-pointer while being fouled. His free throw completed the four-point play to put RMU back on top, but Prather wasn’t done.
Within a minute, Ryan Prather had scored 9 points to get the crowd rocking and extend RMU’s lead to 58-52. The lead rattled Detroit Mercy and would shut the door the rest of the way on a Titan comeback bid. To the final whistle, the Colonials never stepped off the gas and rolled to a 73-62 victory.
Despite Wright State’s recent win eliminating Robert Morris from the top seed entering the Horizon League Tournament, RMU meets Cleveland State at home on Saturday, where a victory secures the second spot entering March.
