The No. 7 ranked Robert Morris College Eagles (18-3, 6-0) defeated CCAC conference rivals St. Xavier University Cougars 86-78 in front of a packed house at the Joseph Gentile Center on Saturday night.
The No. 7 ranked Robert Morris College Eagles (18-3, 6-0) defeated CCAC conference rivals St. Xavier University Cougars 86-78 in front of a packed house at the Joseph Gentile Center on Saturday night.
Although the rivalry between the two teams has not lived up to what it has in the past, the Eagles would not allow the futility of their opponents record to lull them as they dominated the Cougars (13-12, 3-3) in all facets of the game by out-rebounding them 49-29, topping them in fast break points, 34-8 and in second chance points 26-10, while holding them to a season low 37 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
“We played the way we’ve been working toward all season,” said Eagles coach Al Bruehl. “We pushed the ball on offense, hit the boards hard and controlled the three-point line.”
The Eagles would get great play off the bench from senior guard Jason Bowden, last season’s CCAC Sixth Man of the Year, who drained four three-pointers to tally 12 points while dishing out five assists. In addition to Bowden’s superb play off the bench, this year’s leading candidate for that honor, senior guard Tim Baker continued his scoring onslaught with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting to take over the conference lead in field goal percentage at 63 percent. Bowden and Baker alone tripled the scoring output of the entire SXU bench, outscoring the Cougars 36-12 in bench points.
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