Robert Morris rally falls short in 90-81 loss to No. 2 Alabama in NCAA Tournament

CLEVELAND — Sensing something historic, the Rocket Arena crowd got behind Robert Morris with all its vocal ferocity Friday afternoon, roaring with approval and anticipation while the 15th-seeded Colonials exchanged blow after blow with No. 2 Alabama.

In the end, however, Alabama came after Robert Morris with superior athleticism and years of experience and walked off with a 90-81 victory in a first-round game in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. The loss ended Robert Morris’ 10-game winning streak and season.

The Colonials (26-9), making their first tournament appearance since 2015, rallied to within three points of the lead late in the first half and led by 65-64 with 7 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game. That’s when noise inside the arena that houses the Cleveland Cavaliers reached its zenith.

Quite a contrast to the sadness and quiet voices after the game among Robert Morris’ Amarion Dickerson, Alvaro Folgueiras, Kam Woods and coach Andy Toole.

Asked to characterize his emotions, Woods said he was “devastated.”

After playing more than 38 minutes and contributing seven assists and committing only two turnovers, Woods looked back with despair and self-accountability at the game’s final seven minutes when Alabama outscored Robert Morris, 26-16. The Crimson Tide (26-8) didn’t play their best game but did finish one point short of their nation-leading average of 91.1 points per game. Alabama will play No. 7 seed Saint Mary’s in the Round of 32 on Sunday.

“We had the lead up. We had the ball,” said Woods, who scored eight points while going 3 for 18 from the floor. “That’s a possession I feel like I wish I could get back. I feel like it’s all on me, and I let them down.”

After Robert Morris took the one-point lead that lasted 30 seconds, Ryan Prather missed a 3-point try from the corner, and Alabama regained the lead on a dunk by injured regular Grant Nelson, who came off the bench to play seven minutes and score five points.

“Ryan had that 3 in that corner, man, and I thought that was going to go down. It didn’t go down,” Toole said. “They were able to get to the free-throw line a little bit there down that stretch and build that lead some.

“I thought we had some good opportunities to score during that stretch and weren’t able to take advantage. I thought we had a couple costly turnovers during that stretch, as well, that really fueled their ability to get out, put some pressure on us defensively.”

Folgueiras, the Horizon League Player of the Year who scored 15 points with 10 rebounds, looked beyond the devastation and the final decisive minutes to dwell on the big picture that included the Colonials’ 16-1 run since Jan. 12 and 10-game winning streak that ended Friday.

“The emotions are like recent, so of course we don’t feel good,” he said. “But looking back at the beginning of the season, we made an unbelievable run. We became a crazy team to stop. I’m just proud of my guys. Feelings are bad because nobody likes to lose.

“I would love to play with the guys one more time for sure,” he said.

The star of the show — if there can be one in a loss — was Dickerson, a Cleveland native who led the Colonials with 25 points on 11-of-22 shooting while adding nine rebounds. Most distressing to Alabama coach Nate Oats was this stat: Dickerson had one more offensive rebound (six) than the Crimson Tide’s entire team.

Dickerson’s six points in a row in less than a two-minute span midway through the second half sparked a rally that got the crowd engaged and excited. At one point, he shouted toward the large contingent of Robert Morris fans seated (but most of them standing) near the baseline.

Seconds later, Dickerson blocked a shot that led to Josh Omojafo’s layup to give Robert Morris its lead.

“I don’t believe there was added pressure on me as far as taking more shots,” said Dickerson, who missed seven of eight from beyond the 3-point arc. He said Toole gives him the freedom to shoot.

“He always tells us to be aggressive. If we get a good look, let it fire,” he said. “High-percentage shots (are) what we go by at RMU, so I believe the shots I took (were) high-percentage shots, whether they fall in there or not.”

Toole, who has spent 18 seasons at Robert Morris (15 as head coach), was as subdued as his players. But at the age of 44, he was able to look past the gloom and focus on what was just as important to him as the outcome — his players.

“I told them in the locker room — I’m sure I’ll get some text messages about this — but (they are) the best RMU team ever put together,” he said. “What they accomplished, tying the program record for wins, winning the Horizon League regular-season championship, winning the postseason tournament, coming in here as a 15 seed and going toe-to-toe with Alabama, I think they’re the greatest team in RMU history.

“The spirit and the competitiveness that these guys play with is contagious, and I think you felt that in the arena,” he said. “I think you saw that from the way the fans responded to them, and it’s a credit to the way they approach the game, the way they perform. I’m just so proud to be associated with these guys.”

Toole hopes this isn’t the end, but in this age of NIL and immediate eligibility for transfers, the future is murky for every team in the nation. Toole said all but two players — Ismael Plet and Chris Ford — are eligible to return, but he doesn’t know what the 2025-26 Colonials will look like.

“This is where you have something great that’s gone on for a long time, the last couple months, and then all of a sudden, now it becomes in jeopardy,” he said. “That’s the state of the game and the way that it works, but certainly not something you look forward to as a coach. That’s the part that just stinks because other than Ish and Chris Ford, everybody potentially can be back. You don’t know if anyone will be back. It makes it really hard to function and sustain success.

“This is the biggest stage, and guys are able to see how effective they are and how capable they are. So, you just never know.”