Robert Morris staves off New Orleans for men's basketball win

The tiring effects of playing three games in four days seemingly showed up Sunday for the field of four teams in the Urban-Bennett Invitational at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center, where the hometown Colonials capped off a perfect record with a 73-62 victory over New Orleans.

D.J. Smith scored 20 points, Alvaro Folgueiras contributed 19 points and 13 rebounds and Robert Morris withstood New Orleans’ furious second-half rally to win its fourth straight game and third in the tournament.

The Colonials (4-2), who beat Stonehill on Thursday and Lindenwood on Friday, led New Orleans by 11 points midway through the second half but couldn’t shake the Privateers until late.

“They’re really excited. They’re exhausted,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said of his team. “Three games in four days is hard. It’s not really typical anymore. You’re not playing Thanksgiving and Christmas classics, like they used to have, where you play back-to-back nights. Not everybody is used to the intensity and urgency over a four-day span.”

Lindenwood rallied to beat Stonehill in the first game as Anias Futrell sank three free throws with 14 seconds left and survived when Stonehill’s Josh Morgan missed a pair at the line with with 4 seconds to go.

Though Toole was thrilled with Robert Morris’ latest outcome, he said the game wouldn’t win any style points.

“It wasn’t the most appealing game we’ve ever played or anyone’s ever watched, but the ability to continue to grind through, get some stops, make some timely shots when necessary is a good sign for us in terms of us building to try to fight, fight, fight and figure out how to be successful regardless of circumstances.”

New Orleans got within 62-60 with 4 minutes, 19 seconds left on a layup by Jah Short, but that was as close as the Privateers got before Robert Morris ended the game on an 11-2 run sparked by Smith’s seven points.

“He was able to make big plays when it counted,” Toole said.

Smith, a transfer from Bowling Green after beginning his college career at Little Rock, became Robert Morris’ primary ball handler following an ankle injury to Kam Woods, who began the season as the starter after transferring from North Carolina State’s Final Four team.

Toole said Woods’ status was day-to-day, and senior guard Justice Williams, who has yet to play this season while recovering from knee surgery, was expected to remain sidelined indefinitely.

Robert Morris returns to action Thursday at Cornell before entertaining Canisius on Nov. 27 and visiting Ohio on Nov. 30 to close out the month. The Colonials play their first Horizon League game Dec. 4 against Youngstown State at UPMC Events Center.

Folgueiras, who averaged 12.6 points and 13.3 rebounds in RMU’s three games, and Josh Omojafo (12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) were named to the five-man all-tournament team.

Folgueiras posted his second straight double double and third of the season, registering his fifth game with double-digit rebounds.

Omojafo, Robert Morris’ leading scorer, was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting but contributed 10 rebounds before fouling out.

James White led New Orleans (1-4) with 26 points and eight rebounds. Short added 17 points for the Privateers.

White, Lindenwood’s Futrell and Stonehill’s Morgan joined Folgueiras and Omojafo on the all-tournament team.

New Orleans scored the game’s first basket but quickly fell behind and never led again as Robert Morris built a 32-16 advantage on a layup by Folgueiras with 4:38 left in the first half.

New Orleans used a 9-0 run to close the gap to 32-25 with 1:29 remaining before Robert Morris pushed the margin back to double digits on Folgueiras’ 3-point shot then settled for a 35-27 halftime lead.

After that, the Colonials found themselves in a dogfight, but they survived to finish with the best record in the event. The other three teams all finished with 1-2 marks.

“There was a lot of excitement in the locker room,” Toole said, “a lot of good energy, but a lot of tired bodies, as well.”