The Robert Morris Colonials men’s basketball team will be play an opening round game in the NCAA tournament against the North Florida Ospreys in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday. They will face the 1st-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the first round in the South Region in Charlotte, North Carolina if they can win.
Robert Morris (19-14) will make its first NCAA appearance since 2010, when they narrowly lost to #2 Villanova as a #15 seed in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2015, head coach Andy Toole’s squad beat St. Francis (NY) in the Northeast Conference championship game last week to earn their ticket to the big dance.
The Colonials are led by their backcourt, consisting of junior guard Rodney Pryor, who finished the season with 503 points, and Marcquise Lee, who had 488 points in his freshman season. The two guards were the only Colonials players to suit up for all 33 games this season.
North Florida (23-11) comes into the tournament on an eight-game winning streak and claimed the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that comes with it with a 63-57 win over USC Upstate last Sunday.
The Ospreys are coached by Matthew Driscoll, who once interviewed for the Colonials head-coaching job. Driscoll is in his sixth season at North Florida. His squad is led offensively sophomore guard Dallas Moore. The St. Petersburg, Florida native scored 541 points while starting all 34 games for the Ospreys, for a 15.9 point per game average.
Photo credit: RMU Sentry Media
