NCAAB

Robert Morris Colonials at Alabama Crimson Tide

· Men's Basketball Championship - East Region - 1st Round
Final
81 - 90
26-8, 12-3 Home

Mark Sears and Alabama survive scare and beat 15th-seeded Robert Morris 90-81 in March Madness

Amarion Dickerson electrifies crowd with huge slam for Robert Morris

The Colonials gave the Crimson Tide (27-8) all they could handle and even took their first lead at 65-64 on a layup by Josh Omojafo to bring the Rocket Arena crowd to its feet.

Alabama responded behind Sears, who had seven points during an 11-2 surge that gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room against the Horizon League champions.

“(I) kept playing the right way, and then the game repaid me back,” said Sears, who also had five rebounds and 10 of Alabama's 25 assists.

Robert Morris (26-9) came in as a 22-1/2 point underdog, according to Sportsbook, yet spent most of the afternoon threatening to author the first true bracket-buster of the tournament after a relatively quiet opening day on Thursday.

Instead, the Crimson Tide gathered themselves to advance. Alabama will face Saint Mary's in the second round on Sunday after the seventh-seeded Gaels rallied past 10th-seeded Vanderbilt.

“We’ve been here before,” said Crimson Tide sophomore forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in 21 foul-plagued minutes. “We’ve been in these positions all season and last year. ... So we’ve been here before, so we’ve seen this before.”

Cleveland native Amarion Dickerson led the Colonials with 25 points, including a spectacular sequence in the second half in which the 6-foot-7 junior put together a series of athletic buckets that helped erase a 10-point deficit. Dickerson added nine rebounds, and his six offensive boards were one more than the Crimson Tide had as a team.

“He seemed to be everywhere when we needed a play,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said of Dickerson. “We were down 10. He went on his little personal run there and got us back into that game, and I don’t think anybody that was associated with Robert Morris basketball is surprised by it one bit.”

Second-half Nelson How serious did it get? Alabama forward Grant Nelson, who was a game-time decision due to a knee injury, made his first appearance midway through the second half in hopes of finally putting the Colonials away.

Nelson eventually did just that, throwing down a two-handed dunk with just over two minutes left that pushed Alabama's lead back to double digits.

“We didn’t play as well as we had hoped, and Grant was like, ‘We’re not going home, put me in,’” Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said.

Nelson finished with five points and three rebounds in seven minutes. Barring a setback, he should be available on Sunday.

Crimson Tide center Clifford Omoruyi had a season-high 17 points on 8-for-8 shooting, most of them dunks against the smaller Colonials.

Takeaways Robert Morris: The Colonials found their footing in their fifth season in the Horizon League under Toole, who called this group the best team in program history. The Penn graduate figures to have his name pop up in connection with a vacancy or two (his alma mater is looking for a coach), though the 44-year-old has stressed he's content at a school where's been a fixture since 2007.

Alabama: The Crimson Tide did not panic late even as momentum and most of the capacity crowd turned against them. An experienced group that's already made deep tournament runs just kept going, and the nation's highest-scoring team reached the 90-point mark for the 19th time this season.

Up next The Crimson Tide will aim for their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five years on Sunday.

How can I watch Robert Morris vs. Alabama?

  • TV Channel: Robert Morris at Alabama 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on truTV.
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Recent Plays

2nd 0:00 End of Game 81 - 90
2nd 0:00 End of 2nd half 81 - 90
2nd 0:01 Ismael Plet made Free Throw. 81 - 90
2nd 0:01 Robert Morris Deadball Team Rebound. 80 - 90
2nd 0:01 Ismael Plet missed Free Throw. 80 - 90

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2523.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originRMU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/333.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originALA
33-78 FG 34-58
42.3 Field Goal % 58.6
7-27 3PT 6-21
25.9 Three Point % 28.6
8-13 FT 16-24
61.5 Free Throw % 66.7
39 Rebounds 37
16 Offensive Rebounds 5
23 Defensive Rebounds 32
17 Assists 25
7 Steals 7
5 Blocks 5
9 Turnovers 12
0 Team Turnovers 0
9 Total Turnovers 12
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
12 Points Off Turnovers 8
8 Fast Break Points 9
50 Points in Paint 56
24 Fouls 16
1 Largest Lead 12

Game Information

Venue: Rocket Arena

Location: Cleveland, OH
Capacity:

2024-25 Horizon League Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Robert Morris 15-5 - 26-9
Milwaukee 14-6 1 21-11
Cleveland State 14-6 1 23-13
Youngstown State 13-7 2 21-13
Purdue Fort Wayne 12-8 3 19-13
Northern Kentucky 11-9 4 17-16
Oakland 11-9 4 16-18
Wright State 8-12 7 15-18
IU Indianapolis 6-14 9 10-22
Detroit Mercy 4-16 11 8-24
Green Bay 2-18 13 4-28

2024-25 Southeastern Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Auburn 15-3 - 32-5
Florida 14-4 1 34-4
Alabama 13-5 2 28-9
Tennessee 12-6 3 30-8
Texas A&M 11-7 4 23-11
Ole Miss 10-8 5 24-12
Kentucky 10-8 5 24-12
Missouri 10-8 5 22-12
Mississippi State 8-10 7 21-13
Arkansas 8-10 7 22-14
Georgia 8-10 7 20-13
Vanderbilt 8-10 7 20-13
Oklahoma 6-12 9 20-14
Texas 6-12 9 19-16
LSU 3-15 12 14-18
South Carolina 2-16 13 12-20
Full Standings