Chicago, Ill. – The Robert Morris Men’s Basketball team lost to cross-city rival Saint Xavier University by the score of 80-66 on Thursday, December 20th in the opening game of the Saint Xavier Midwest Tournament. The loss drops the Eagles’ record to 5-8 on the season.
The Eagles fell behind the hosts by as many as six points in the opening minutes, but RMU took a 14-13 lead on a Brian Bradley lay-up with 15:14 left in the first half. The RMU lead was stretched to 27-21 with 9:25 to go but the Cougars came back and finished out the opening half with a 44-34 lead.
The second half was all Saint Xavier, as the Cougars began the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 52-34 lead with 16:34 left. The Eagles made a run of their own cutting the deficit to 54-45 with 13:21 to play on a Joshua Anderson three-pointer but the Cougars scored the next six points to lead 60-45 with 11:46 left. RMU could not recover and the Cougars led by as many as 21 points before closing out the game with a 80-66 victory.
Three Eagles scored in double figures with Brian Bradley leading RMU with 15 points, while Kashaune McKinney scored 14 points and Sean Montgomery chipped in with 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Eagles do not play again until Saturday, December 22nd at noon against an opponent to be determined in the tournament. RMU receives a forfeit victory on Friday, as Cincinnati Christian elected to not participate in the tournament. Fans can listen to Saturday’s game live on the Eagle Sports Network.