Robert Morris men fall in Horizon League quarterfinals

In three years in the Horizon League since breaking its long union with the Northeast Conference, the Robert Morris men’s basketball team steadily has improved. The Colonials went from four victories in the first year to eight last season to 16 this year, including 10 in the conference.

For most of Thursday night’s Horizon Tournament quarterfinals game against Cleveland State, it looked as though the Colonials would take another step toward their first conference championship.

But the third-seeded Vikings, who trailed for nearly the entire game, rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to force overtime and beat No. 6 Robert Morris, 75-70, at Wolstein Center in Cleveland.

“Really disappointing,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said. “This has been a great group to work with all year. It just hurts because you want them to continue on.”

Tristan Enaruna scored 23 points and Cleveland State made its free throws in the closing seconds of overtime as the Vikings advanced to the semifinals against second-seeded Milwaukee on Monday at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

Cleveland (20-12) extended its winning streak over Robert Morris to eight, including three victories this season. Deante Johnson added 15 points and Drew Lowder contributed 11 for the Vikings.

Freshman Stephaun Walker led Robert Morris (16-17) with a career-high 15 points. Josh Corbin and Michael Green III added 14 apiece for the Colonials, who needed Green’s 3-point shot with 2 seconds left two nights earlier to beat IUPUI and advance to the quarterfinals.

In his final college game, Robert Morris grad student Kahliel Spear finished with eight points and eight rebounds, breaking a string of 16 games scoring in double figures.

“I feel terrible right now, being it’s my last game of my college career,” he said. “But we played well. There were just some small things we didn’t execute at the end of (regulation) that was in our control and that let the game slip away. We can’t reverse the past, so it’s just what it is.”

Johnson opened the scoring in overtime for Cleveland State, giving the Vikings their first lead since early in the first half, before Yahel Hill hit a pair of free throws to increase their margin to 67-63.

Spear’s dunk closed Robert Morris within 67-65, but Enaruna’s shot from the paint kept Cleveland State in command, 69-65, and the Vikings converted four free throws in the final seven seconds — two each by Deshon Parker and TJ Wainwright — to secure the victory.

Enaruna shot 10 for 17 and also led Cleveland State with seven rebounds. He scored 16 points combined in the second half and overtime.

Cleveland State led for just 1 minute, 48 seconds before coming back to tie the score at the end of regulation, 61-61, on two free throws by Lowder.

“Valiant efforts don’t get you much in March,” Toole said. “We had some chances in the last minute and a half, two minutes, up seven. It’s like a complete scouting report breakdown. This is certainly a difficult one to handle.”

Green converted a pair of free throws with 1:48 to go and Robert Morris led, 61-54, before Cleveland State rallied to close within 61-59 on Lowder’s 3-point shot and a layup by Enaruna.

Corbin was whistled for traveling with 12 seconds remaining, turning the ball back to Cleveland State.

Lowder then was fouled by Jackson Last with 7.7 seconds to go and made both free throws to send the game into overtime. But not before a review of the final play in regulation, which determined that a Robert Morris foul occurred after time had expired.

Robert Morris controlled the first half. The Colonials jumped to a 13-6 lead, thanks to a 9-0 run, capped by Spear’s dunk off a perfect lob pass from Green.

A seven-minute delay followed because of a clock malfunction. When play resumed, Cleveland State used a 9-2 run to tie the score, 15-15.

But Robert Morris regrouped.

Green’s 3-point shot capped an 11-3 run that gave the Colonials their largest lead of the first half, 26-18, before they settled for a 32-28 halftime advantage.

A pair of 3-point shots by Corbin and Last padded Robert Morris’ four-point halftime cushion and Enoch Cheeks’ jumper put the Colonials ahead, 47-35.

Cleveland State used a 6-0 run to close within 48-41 before Corbin sank back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Robert Morris lead back to double digits at 53-43 with 8:45 left.

Then, Cleveland State began its comeback, working overtime for its sixth victory in the past seven games — the only loss an 81-72 decision to its semifinals opponent, Milwaukee.