'They kept fighting': Robert Morris fans proud of hoops team after loss to Alabama

Watching Robert Morris play in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday kept Kassidy Mislan and her friends on the edge of their seats at a campus gathering.

The Colonials took the lead over the heavily-favored Alabama Crimson Tide with just a little bit over 7 minutes remaining in the game. Then, Alabama roared back and wound up winning 90-81.

“It was a tough loss, but they fought all the way till the end,” said Mislan, 22. “It sucks, but it was great to see that they made it as far as they did.”

Miranda Shock was impressed with the fight in the Colonials.

“I did not think they would hang in there that close,” said Shock, 22. “They kept fighting until the end, so it was a better outcome than what we had imagined.”

As seniors at Robert Morris, Mislan, Shock and Madalyn Byrnes knew friends who traveled to Cleveland to watch the game in person. Mislan and Shock said they would have made the trip if they didn’t have to work.

“I think that the team proved themselves even though they’re going home with a loss,” Byrnes said.

The friends attended the watch party hosted at the UPMC Events Center on Robert Morris’ campus in Moon, where over 100 fans gathered to cheer on the team together. The gathering included students, alumni, faculty, staff and other Colonials fans.

John Locke, chief experience officer at Robert Morris, said it was a no-brainer to hold a watch party to bring the community together.

“The fact that our men’s basketball team has had such a successful run … it’s a magical time for everybody at the Robert Morris family,” Locke said.

Over 100 students were sent via two charter buses to Cleveland Friday morning for the game, he said.

“We know of even more students who found their way there and bought tickets on their own,” he said. “There’s a huge army contingent of alums.”

As someone who witnessed the Colonials’ previous runs in the NCAA Tournament, Locke said there’s an “incredible energy” that infuses into every part of campus life.

This year will mark Robert Morris’ ninth NCAA appearance after winning a 10th overall conference championship. The 2020 team won the NEC Tournament, but the NCAA Tournament was wiped out by the pandemic.

“It’s just been fantastic that the whole country at least knows our name and are talking about us this weekend,” Locke said.

He said his whole social media feed has been filled with Colonials fans expressing their support.

“Everybody at RMU has a lot of heart, and this basketball team really illustrated the heart that RMU has and that our community really is,” Locke said. “This is a very, very good Alabama team, and they pushed them to the limit.”

The watch party gave fans a chance to experience the feeling of being with the RMU community without having to make the drive to Ohio.

“The atmosphere feels like we are at the game just with everybody cheering and everything,” Shock said. “It’s pretty cool being seniors — we haven’t gotten to experience anything like this.”

Cheers erupted in front of the projection screens every time the Colonials scored.

“I think I’m just really excited,” Byrnes said. “RMU being such a small school, no one expects them to do well, so to see them do well, to see them hang in there … this late in the game is really exciting.”

With just over than seven minutes left in the game, the Colonials took a brief lead. Fans leapt out of their seats to celebrate.

Despite the loss, the game was thrilling, Byrnes said.

“They certainly proved that they deserved to be there, and they put up a good fight,” she said.