Colonials continue mastery of Dukes
Make it 7 of 8; pick up first win after trip out West
The non-conference portion of the regular season is routinely unpredictable for Robert Morris coach Andy Toole, as he is usually tasked with working in several new additions to his roster while surviving a traditionally road-heavy schedule.
But one thing has become more certain in recent years — if the non-conference schedule includes a game against Duquesne, it likely will go in the win column.
A 66-59 victory against Duquesne (2-1) Sunday night at Palumbo Center marked the seventh time in eight seasons that Robert Morris (1-3) has defeated its crosstown rival.
It was the Colonials’ first win this season and fourth consecutive road game, but this one was closer to a neutral-site contest. There were a number of fans in the arena wearing Robert Morris attire.
“Every game means a lot, but you have Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris, and I think sometimes we’re overshadowed because they’re the two in the city,” sophomore guard Dachon Burke said, referring to the Robert Morris’ campus being in Moon. “Coming into this game, it’s a rivalry, yes. And it means a lot, not just to us, but the school, everybody.”
Robert Morris played with great effort despite coming off of a West Coast road trip against Grand Canyon in Phoenix and at San Diego.
The Colonials have yet to shoot better than 40 percent from the field this season — the 38.7 mark Sunday was a season-high.
But Robert Morris dominated on the boards, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds compared to Duquesne’s six. It enabled an 18-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Robert Morris also forced 20 turnovers, off which it scored 18 points.
Junior forward Malik Petteway led the Colonials with 13 points and 14 rebounds; Burke had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals, and freshman forward Koby Thomas added 10 points and 8 rebounds.
“Obviously really proud of our guys and the ability to come in here and win,” Toole said. “I thought that we played a really gritty game. I thought that we obviously didn’t shoot the ball incredibly well, we had some good looks that I think we’ll make.
“We had some opportunities to finish that we didn’t take advantage of. But Malik and everybody did a good job getting off the offensive glass, I thought that was key.”
Toole saw improvement from the Colonials, but said the challenge going forward will be to maintain the intensity from Sunday in practice and on the road.
Robert Morris will play four more road games before returning to Pittsburgh for its first home game Dec. 6 against Rider.
“Sometimes it’s easy to be all fired up in practice when you come off a loss,” Toole said. “Well now you just came off a win. Can you come back with that same hunger? Because there’s still a lot that we can get better at and I think guys need to understand that and work at that.”