Andy Toole’s reaction said it all.

With 4 minutes, 12 seconds to play in Thursday evening’s game between Robert Morris and Northern Kentucky, an errant pass by Enoch Cheeks made its way on the fly directly into the grasp of Robert Morris’ 13th-year coach, who was standing courtside and proceeded to slam the ball down in frustration.

At that point, the Colonials trailed the visiting Norse by four points and had the ball in the offensive zone. Following Cheeks’ turnover, and a few more in quick succession, the game was out of reach as Northern Kentucky rolled to a 65-52 win.

It was a brutal time for Cheeks to log his lone turnover of the contest. Some of his teammates, however, such as Josh Corbin (six), Jackson Last (five) and Michael Green III (four) turned the ball over with far more frequency.

“Obviously, the turnover by Enoch was a big play,” Toole said. “Because that’s where you’ve got to be able to execute, you’ve got to be able to be on the same page with each other. We certainly weren’t on that play.”

The crippling amount of turnovers Robert Morris committed (19) proved to be the difference, with the Colonials falling at UPMC Events Center in a game that was neck-and-neck until about four minutes were left in the second half.

After trailing by five at halftime, the game became a razor-thin affair, with the Colonials and Norse stuck within a basket of one another for a chunky 13:06 stretch of the second half.

Kahliel Spear, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, contributed 17 points and 10 boards in the loss. Cheeks led the Colonials with 20 points Thursday.

The opposition had three players score in the double digits, led by Marques Warrick, who dropped 21.

Northern Kentucky big man Chris Brandon, the Horizon League’s leading rebounder, finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

While his team kept things close with the Norse for a majority of the second half, Toole was displeased with the energy and effort of his players down the stretch.

“I thought at the start of the second half, we played with a little bit of that edge and pace, but as we started to fatigue a little bit, we weren’t able to keep that level of pace and effort,” Toole said.

“If you’re going to really be in this league competing, you’re going to have to be able to execute and do that stuff for long stretches of the game. Obviously, we weren’t able to do that tonight.”

To Toole’s point, facing a five-point deficit as the second half got underway, the Colonials quickly tied the score via a 3-pointer by Cheeks and two free throws by Spear.

That led into the 13-minute stretch of play when there were five lead changes and six ties.

For Robert Morris (11-13, 6-7), a three-game winning streak comes to an end.

Coming out on top Thursday would have given the Colonials their most consecutive victories since becoming members of the Horizon League for the 2020-21 season.

The Colonials have a fast turnaround before hosting Wright State Saturday at UPMC Events Center.

“You’ve got to be able to flip it quick because (we) only have a day’s rest to really get ready for Wright State,” Toole said.

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