Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team improved to 4-0 at home this season and ran its non-conference winning streak at the Charles L. Sewall Center to nine with a 79-78 victory over Youngstown State Saturday night. The win snaps a two-game slide and improves the Colonials to 6-3 overall in 2006-07, while the Penguins fell to 4-7.

Owning a double-digit lead, 65-55, with less than 10 minutes to play, RMU saw Youngstown State close its deficit to one, 71-70, with 3:16 remaining thanks to a 15-6 run that was fueled by Keston Roberts and Quin Humphrey. Roberts scored six points and Humphrey three during the spurt, with a jumper from Roberts after a steal pulling the Penguins close.

Junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown) came through for Robert Morris, driving to the basket and hitting a layup while being fouled by Humphrey to give the Colonials a 73-70 edge. Lee would hit his free throw to complete the three-point play and push RMU to a 74-70 advantage with 2:35 to go. It remained a two-possession game until YSU made the final score a one-point affair after Roberts drained a three-pointer with 1.8 seconds to play after a missed free throw by Jack Liles. However, senior guard Derek Coleman's (Dorchester, Mass. / Charlestown) outlet pass to Lee went the length of the court, allowing RMU to run the time out on the clock.

Robert Morris took control in the first half with a 16-6 spurt that gave the Colonials a 38-26 lead with 4:35 to go before the break. Senior center Freddie Harris (Decatur, Ala. / Lawson State C.C.) was an important part to the surge for RMU, scoring eight points while Lee added six. The Colonials kept their double-digit lead into halftime, 48-37, and eventually stretched their advantage to 14 on three occasions in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Youngstown State hung tight thanks to the hot shooting of Humphrey and Roberts, who combined to hit 15-of-33 from the field. Down 63-49 with 13:01 to go, Humphrey ignited a 10-2 Penguin run with six points, including four from the free-throw line. Lee answered with a layup to give Robert Morris an eight-point lead, 67-59, before YSU's surge to close within one.

Lee paced RMU with 23 points and eight rebounds while adding five assists, and Harris scored a career high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 6-for-9 from the charity stripe. Sophomore guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) added 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Colonials.

Humphrey took home game-high honors in scoring with 25 points for Youngstown State on 7-of-17 shooting, while Roberts added 23 points. John Barber came off the bench for the Penguins and contributed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Robert Morris now takes to the road for its next game, traveling to Buffalo, N.Y., for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference contest at Canisius Wednesday, Dec. 20.

Notes: The one-point victory is the second straight for the Colonials at home ... Senior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, Pa. / Monessen), who battled foul trouble in the first half and played just 24 minutes, finished with seven points and seven rebounds ... The first five field goals on the game for RMU came from beyond the arc but the Colonials finished just 6-for-17 shooting (35.3 percent) from long range ... Robert Morris dominated inside, outscoring Youngstown State, 42-10, in the paint ... The Colonials held a 34-31 edge on the backboard, including a 13-11 advantage on the offensive glass ... Of Lee's eight rebounds, five were offensive ... Youngstown State posted 10 steals on RMU's 14 turnovers but the Colonials posted an assist on 17 of their 29 field goals.