By Jeysla Gonzalez
March 11, 2025
INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time as a Horizon League member, RMU will play in The Big Dance. Top seed RMU (26-8) held off No. 4 seed Youngstown State 89-78 Tuesday night to earn its first League title.
First Time On The Horizon: RMU won nine conference championships in men’s basketball between 1982-2020, but this is the first time it has won the Horizon League. RMU’s last NCAA appearance came in 2015, when it won a First Four game over North Florida.
Major Hot Streak: RMU’s championship game win over Youngstown State extended the team’s win streak to 10. RMU enters the NCAA Tournament 17-3 over its last 20 games.
Impact Player: Kam Woods of RMU was voted the Valeo MVP of the tournament. Woods scored 17 points with six rebounds and five assists in the win. He averaged 20.0 points, 6.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds across the semifinal and final wins in Indy.
- Joining Woods on the All-Tournament team were:
- Josh Omojafo, RMU
- DJ Smith, RMU
- Nico Galette, Youngstown State
- Allen Mukeba, Oakland
Dig Deeper: Josh Omojafo led all players with 24 points and 13 rebounds, including 18 points and 10 boards in the second half. RMU scored 55 in the second half to out-pace a YSU team that shot 53 percent in the second half. Youngstown State trailed the entire game but hung around, trailing 65-60 with 7:32 left. RMU put together a 13-5 run to take a 13-point lead with 2:33 left and Omojafo scored six points in the final minute to ice the win.
Quotable: “I’m really proud of this group. We talked about taking care of the ball and rebounding and defending. In the middle part of the second half our defense really stood up and we were able to make enough plays to get the win,” RMU head coach Andy Toole said. “These guys have been unbelievable all year long and they’ve continued to improve all year long. And that’s how we became a championship-level team.”
COURTESY THE HORIZON LEAGUE
