Robert Morris loses A.J. Bramah to transfer portal, beats Oakland in double OT

A dizzying series of events unfolded Friday night at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center, leading the Colonials to their first victory since New Year’s Day, an 88-82 double-overtime thriller against Oakland.

In the end, it was difficult to determine what mattered most.

Was it Kahliel Spear’s double-double that included 16 points, 15 rebounds, three blocks and a dramatic put-back in the second extra session that gave Robert Morris an 86-82 lead with 29 seconds to play?

Was it Robert Morris’ balanced scoring and unselfish ball movement? The Colonials had six players in double digits, hit 31 of 62 shots and dished out 21 assists. Spear was followed by Enoch Cheeks (15 points), Charles Bain (12), Trayden Williams, Jon Williams and Dante Treacy (10 each). Treacy contributed eight assists and a 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime.

Was it the team’s willingness to keep fighting even while losing, 71-63, with 3 minutes, 44 seconds left in regulation?

All those things mattered, but Jon Williams, the team’s senior leader and conductor of more than a few locker room talks, put the victory in its proper perspective

“At some point, you have to hate to lose more than you like to win,” he said.

Robert Morris (4-11, 3-9 Horizon League) took an eight-game losing streak into the game, four of them decided in overtime. The fifth on Friday tied a school record for OT games and was Robert Morris’ third in the past three games.

“Nobody likes that feeling of losing,” Williams said. “Nobody likes moral victories, either.

“We got in the habit of, ‘Oh, we fought. Oh, we came close,’ and that’s just not good enough. You don’t get a pat on the back for losing games, whether they’re close or not.

“You have to take that next step and empty the tank until you come out with the victory when all the numbers (on the scoreboard) say zero.”

Williams recorded six assists and four clutch free throws – two with 34 seconds left in the first overtime and two more to build a four-point lead in the second. Funny thing, he came into the game with only 14 attempts at the foul line in the first 14 games.

“I practice free throws every day,” said Williams, who was at a loss to explain his statistical quirk. “When the game’s on the line, I want to be the one to take the shot. I want to be the one to get us over that hump.”

Coach Andy Toole was pleased that his players have stayed together through tough times.

“The guys in that locker room have good character,” he said. “Jon Williams is a great leader. Guys want to win. Dante Treacy is a competitor. Some of our young guys, they don’t know it yet, but they have some toughness inside of them that we’re trying to get out.

“Unbelievable effort by our guys to keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting.”

The game was preceded by another bit of turmoil within the program when A.J. Bramah put his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Bramah is the Colonials’ best player and the Horizon’s second-leading scorer (21 points per game). It was the second time in three weekends that Bramah left the team, this time for keeps.

Toole declined to discuss Bramah’s reason for leaving.

“I’d rather talk about the guys who were on the court (Friday night),” he said. “We’re going to focus on who wants to be a part of this program and the guys who want to continue to fight and work … want to help build it back and want to help compete in the Horizon League.

“It hasn’t been easy. There’s been a lot of tough losses, a lot of tough days we had to go through.”

Williams said he holds no grudge against Bramah, who helped the Colonials win the NEC tournament championship last season before Robert Morris left for the Horizon.

“I think A.J. is a great player. We’re still friends. We’re still cool,” he said. “No hard feelings.

“Sometimes situations don’t work out how they’re planned. We had fun while he was here. That’s all that matters.”