Orono, Maine - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team notched its fourth straight victory to open the season Sunday afternoon with a 55-43 victory over Maine at the Harold Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. The victory improves the Colonials to 4-0 to start the 2006-07 campaign, the first time in school history RMU has won four straight to open a season.
Robert Morris claimed the victory with a decisive 22-6 run to open the second half. With the Colonials nursing a one-point lead, 32-31, after a pair of free throws from Mark Socoby of the Black Bears, the Colonials got back-to-back three-pointers from senior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, Pa. / Monessen) and a layup from junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown) to extend the Colonial advantage to nine, 40-31.
Freshman guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) added a three-pointer of his own to push the Colonial lead to double digits, 43-31, and layups from Lee and Jackson helped RMU open its biggest lead of the contest, 48-32, with 8:54 remaining.
Maine was able to close its deficit to single-digits on a pair of occasions, both on three-pointers by Jon Sheets, yet each time the Colonials came back with big baskets to help keep the Black Bears at bay.
In the first half the two clubs used constant defensive pressure to keep the score down as RMU and Maine went into the break tied, 26-26. Neither team owned a lead of larger than five points in the first half, and that was held by Robert Morris early in the contest as Jackson scored five straight points to open the game.
The biggest lead for the Black Bears came when Kevin Reed drained a three-pointer at the 7:35 mark to give Maine an 18-15 lead, but Nwigwe answered Reed's trifecta with a basket of his own to keep Robert Morris close.
Reed, Sheets and Junior Bernal combined to shoot just 23.1 percent (9-for-39) from the field for Maine on the game, including 22.7 percent (5-for-22) from beyond the arc. Robert Morris held the Black Bears to a shooting percentage of just 18.5 percent (5-for-27) in the second half and 28.8 percent (17-for-59) on the game, including a paltry 19.2 percent (5-for-26) from beyond the three-point arc.
Jackson posted game-high honors in scoring (21) and rebounding (12) en route to his second double-double in as many road games while adding three assists and two steals, while Lee finished with 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Robert Morris also got a spark off the bench from sophomore forward Ifeanyi “Iffy” Ehirim (Toronto, Ont. / Eldon Academy Prep), who tied a career-high with eight points while adding two rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Robert Morris is next in action Wednesday, Nov. 29, when it travels across town to square off with nationally-ranked Pittsburgh for a 7:30 p.m. contest at the Petersen Events Center.
