Robert Morris continues to struggle, loses to Youngstown State

It’s been a tough ride so far in the Horizon League for the Robert Morris men’s basketball team.

“No fun,” coach Andy Toole said following the Colonials’ latest effort.

Another game, another frustrating result. Just two years in, their quest for some traction continues to sputter.

Michael Akuchie turned in a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds Wednesday night, and Youngstown State held off a late Robert Morris push to come away with a 64-60 victory at UPMC Events Center, the Colonials’ fourth loss in their past five games.

“It really comes down to effort,” Toole said. “This isn’t football. You don’t get to play just one side.”

Tevin Olison added 15 points for Youngstown State (9-5, 3-1). The Penguins, in running their winning streak against Robert Morris to three, took a 12-11 lead in the series dating to 1989.

Youngstown State shot just 33.9 % overall but sank 10 of 25 3-point attempts (40 %) and outrebounded Robert Morris by a whopping 49-24 margin.

Rasheem Dunn scored 15 points to lead Robert Morris (2-11, 0-4) but was just 5 for 18 shooting, missing all six 3-point attempts. Enoch Cheeks posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Colonials, Khaliel Spear added 11 points and Kam Farris scored 10.

Robert Morris, which was playing in just its fourth home game of the season — the start of a scheduled five-game homestand — made 2 of 20 3-point shots.

“We’ve shot it (from 3) at a decent clip during the course of this year,” Toole said. “We’ve been taking good ones for the the most part, and I thought we had some good ones tonight that we didn’t make.”

Olison’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 57 seconds left gave Youngstown State the lead for good at 50-47. The Penguins extended their margin to 56-49 before Robert Morris chipped away.

The Colonials closed to 60-58 with 38 seconds left on a pair of free throws by Dunn.

“It was an incredibly frustrating loss as it continues to get more and more challenging,” Toole said. “We’ll look back and see so many plays where we didn’t handle our business, didn’t do what we needed to get done, didn’t finish with a rebound, didn’t make the right decision offensively.

“It is certainly frustrating, but we’ll continue to battle, continue to work and try to figure it out until we’re not allowed to do it anymore.”

Long before Robert Morris shifted allegiances to the Horizon League to start the 2019-20 season, the Colonials were hooping with Youngstown State, a natural rivalry if ever there was one.

Sixty miles — roughly an hour’s drive across the Pennsylvania-Ohio border — separate the two schools. Until last season, though, their get-togethers were of the nonconference variety, despite their close proximity.

Wednesday night provided a backdrop at UPMC Events Center for just the third meeting in the series as Horizon League opponents. Youngstown State won the first two after Robert Morris came aboard following a longstanding relationship as a member of the Northeast Conference.

It’s been a tougher road for the Colonials, who won the 2020 Northeast Tournament championship in their final season in the NEC during the first coronavirus-stricken season before being denied an opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time with the league’s automatic bid.

RMU has won just three games against Horizon League teams since leaving the NEC. The Colonials so far this season haven’t beaten a Horizon opponent.

While Robert Morris connected against Youngstown State on 23 of 57 shots overall (40.4 %), the shots weren’t falling from long range.

“We were working hard on the defensive side, and that sometimes affects your ability to shoot the ball when you’re giving the effort that we were giving on D,” Toole said. “And then, you’ve got to come back and shoot. We were grinding, defensively, in the first half and couldn’t make a shot.”

Still, Youngstown State managed only a 27-25 halftime lead.

“We got some driving opportunities and layups to start the second half, and then we didn’t guard for that stretch because we were playing offense. We kind of played one side of the ball vs. playing a complete game.

“Throw in (the lack of) rebounding, which you might equate to special teams … blocked punts and blocked field goals, and you know, just … no fun.”