Photo Credit: Justin Berl
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team used a 12-2 run late in the second half in picking up its second consecutive win Thursday with a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
In improving to 9-19 overall and 7-8 in the Northeast Conference, the Colonials clinched a spot in the NEC Tournament for the 13th straight year. The Blackbirds slipped to 13-13 and 7-8 in league play.
Trailing, 58-57, with 3:23 to play after Iverson Fleming converted a pair at the free-throw line, RMU grabbed the lead for good when freshman guard
Steven Whitley hit a pair at the stripe with 3:02 left.
Junior guard
Kavon Stewart would follow by scoring on a fastbreak layup after a Fleming turnover, and senior guard
Rodney Pryor followed with a layup of his own on a feed from Stewart to push the lead for Robert Morris to 63-58.
Martin Hermannsson would pull LIU Brooklyn to within 63-60 thanks to a pair of free throws with 1:37 remaining, put Robert Morris responded with a floater in the lane from Stewart to push its cushion back to five, 65-60.
The Colonials sealed the win at the chalk, finishing 7-for-8 in the final 52 seconds. Included in that stretch were a pair from Pryor, who joined the RMU 1,000-point club with 37 seconds to play, becoming the 24th member.
The game featured 11 ties and 17 lead changes, with the Blackbirds owning a 31-30 lead at halftime after Fleming hit a pair at the free-throw line with just one second left on the first-half clock. Neither team led by more than five until the Colonials used their deciding run to grab a 69-60 advantage.
Robert Morris pushed its lead to 52-47 with 9:37 remaining after a layup from junior forward
Billy Giles, but LIU Brooklyn used a 9-3 surge to grab a 56-55 edge with 4:47 to go. Joel Hernandez scored six points for the Blackbirds, while Hermannsson connected from international waters.
Pryor would push the Colonials in front, 57-56, with a layup before Fleming hit two at the free-throw line to give LIU Brooklyn its final lead of the contest.
"A total effort from our guys tonight," Toole said. "I thought we did a really nice job sharing the ball, and our defense really stepped up and got stops when we needed them. Our guards, when they got in the paint they effectively dropped off the ball. It's imperative we get points in the paint since we're not the best three-point shooting team."
Pryor led all scorers in the contest with 24 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Whitley chipped in a career-high 16 points, Stewart tallied 13 points, eight assists and three steals and Giles contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
Hermannsson paced the Blackbirds with 18 points, five assists and a steal. Fleming scored 12 points off the bench, while Hernandez finished with 10 points and grabbed six boards.
RMU plays its final home game of the 2015-16 regular season Saturday, Feb. 20, with a 4:00 p.m. tip against St. Francis Brooklyn.
Stat Of The Night27 – Points off turnovers by the Colonials against the Blackbirds, a season high
Notes: Robert Morris held an opponent to 71 or fewer points for the fifth straight game … After scoring 11, 10, and 10 points off turnovers in last three games, the Colonials surpassed those marks in each half alone (12 in first half, 15 in second half) … RMU scored 40 points in the paint for the fourth time this season (all four have occurred in last six games) … Pryor reached double figures for the 50th time in his career, surpassed the 20-point plateau for the 12th time this season and 22nd time in his career and is 17-for-17 at the free-throw line over his last four games … Junior forward
Conrad Stephens finished with four points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, grabbing at least five boards in a game for the third time this season.
