ALTOONA, Pa. -- Despite a hard fought battle to get back into the game, Antoine Davis and Detroit Mercy proved to be too much for Robert Morris as the Colonials fell, 83-73, to the Titans in the first round of the Horizon League Basketball Tournament Thursday night at Calihan Hall in Detroit.
The loss to Detroit Mercy, the third in as many games to the Titans, brings a merciless end to what was a dismal first season in the Horizon League for Robert Morris as the Colonials finished with a 4-14 overall record and 3-12 conference record in the regular season.
"A tough way to end the year, I wanted the season to continue if we could," Colonials head coach Andy Toole said following the game. "We came up short."
Despite the familiarity with the Titans, the Colonials defense was no match for Davis who erupted for 46 points with 24 of those coming in the first half. For perspective, Robert Morris managed a total of 24 points in the first half. Those 24 points came as the Colonials shot 34.6 percent before finding a groove in the second half and shooting 61.3 percent from the field.
"That's why he's the leading scorer in the league and the first-team all-league player, there's a reason," Toole said. "I thought at times we did a decent job, he's just able to make shots that are really hard to guard. He puts in the work and those are the results you get when you put in the work."
Outside of Davis, Robert Morris did a good job of neutralizing the offense of the Titans allowing Bul Kuol and Chris Brandon to score 14 and 10 points respectively. Ultimately, it was a 17-0 in the first half for Detroit Mercy to put the game out of reach despite the Colonials best effort to inch back into the game and keep it close.
"Our guys battled tonight and maybe symbolic of the majority of our year we weren't able to make enough plays or get enough stops when we needed to," Toole said.
It wasn't all terrible for Robert Morris as the Colonials were led by Kahliel Spear with 22 points and five rebounds while also getting 17 points from Jon Williams who battled through foul trouble early in the game.
Spear has the intangibles to make him a great player in the Horizon League and his performance against the Titans showed just that, but according to Toole, Spear has to want to get better and build off of performances from nights like tonight.
"For him, it's a matter of how much does he want to get out of this game," Toole said. "He's really talented. He has all the skills necessary to be a high level player, it's really just will he put the work in consistently. When he puts in the work, and he's engaged and he's focused, he's able to be really effective."
It's up to Toole and his staff to help push Spear and his fellow teammates to the level necessary to compete in the Horizon League. The Colonials were on the doorstep of finding a multitude of success multiple times throughout the season before ultimately falling short.
Robert Morris lost 10 games by 10 points or less including Thursday's loss to Detroit Mercy and had nine games decided by six points or less. Thursday's game was a microcosm of the season as the Colonials played well enough to battle in the game, but when it mattered most there was always something that got in their way whether it be a bad possession or inability to get a stop.
"We weren't quite good enough. We weren't able to get over the hump in those games, whether it was, maybe a break down at some point in time during that game that cost us and as much as we can, constantly try to talk about getting a few possessions better," Toole said.
To do that, it's going to take buy-in from guys like Spear and fellow junior Dante Treacy but also guys who haven't been around so long like Kam Farris and Trayden Williams. For Toole, it's not a necessarily hard fix, but not an easy one when it comes to getting guys bought in and how to fix it.
"Maybe be a little bit more locked in to our formula," Toole said. "There were times that got away from us."
Under Toole, Robert Morris has been known for a blue-collar, gritty identity that made the Colonials a dominant force in the Northeast Conference. Now, it's going to take that toughness and then some to get back to those ways, albeit in a completely different conference.
"We've got to really use this offseason to prepare for net year and train ourselves accordingly so that we have the proper habits to win those games," Toole said. "The fight is a non-negotiable and I think we have some guys that are some pretty tough minded dude, we just need some more of them across the board so that we can perform better."
Yet, despite the lack of success in Robert Morris' first year as a member of the Horizon League, Toole and company now know what it takes to be competitive night in and night out in the conference. That experience is invaluable in a season that featured starts, stoppages and their top scorer leaving the team mid-season.
"We got a great sense of what this league is about. We got a great sense of what this league is about when you're not on top of your game, when you're not locked in and when you're not executing a formula," Toole said. "This league is really hard to be successful in and we got a feel for it, the size, the athleticism, the skill of a lot of opponents this year."
• Forward Charles Bain strained his calf in the first half against Detroit Mercy, limiting his ability to impact the game and leading to him scoring only eight points and hauling in five rebounds.
"It's unfortunate because he was giving us some energy," Toole said. "Obviously, missed a few looks that we needed him to make but he was giving us some energy and for him to kind of go down with a calf strain is tough."
• Senior Jon Williams played in his final game with the Colonials and went out with another superb game. Williams led Robert Morris with nine assists while adding 15 points in the losing effort. His four three-pointers put him at 209 for his career, tying his brother Josh Williams for sixth all-time in program history for made three-pointers.
• It was an uphill battle for Robert Morris throughout the season and now, with a full season in the Horizon League behind the program, it's up to Toole and his staff to find what works and what can be successful from a roster perspective in the league. The Colonials are not far away from being a competitive team even with the roster they have now, but it will be important for them to make some additions while also dealing with the potential of a few transfers, much like many other seasons.
"We got to go and work with our guys who are returning and find some guys that can compete at this level and help us be successful," Toole said. "Every team has a guy or two that are high level players and we got to prepare ourselves and equip ourselves with that kind of roster."
