Buffalo, N.Y. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team set a new Koessler Athletic Center record for field goal percentage by an opponent Wednesday night by converting 61.2 percent (30-for-49) of its shots en route to a wire-to-wire 81-77 victory over Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y. The win improved the Colonials to 7-3 overall on the 2006-07 campaign, while the Golden Griffins fell to 3-7.
RMU opened the game on a 9-2 run thanks to four points from junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown), a layup from senior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, Pa. / Monessen) and a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest). Senior center Freddie Harris (Decatur, Ala. / Lawson State C.C.) would give Robert Morris an 11-3 advantage with a layup in the paint at the 16:19 mark of the first half, and the Colonials were able to keep Canisius at bay thanks to the hot shooting of Jackson.
The Griffs closed their deficit to four, 11-7, after a jumper from Frank Turner, but Jackson responded with a three-pointer, then added a layup on an assist from Chappell to get Robert Morris up to a nine-point lead, 16-7. Canisius posted a 13-6 run to knot the score at 22 with 9:51 remaining before halftime thanks to the outside shooting of Pawel Malesa. Malesa came off the bench and drained a trio of three-pointers in less than a minute to turn an eight-point Canisius deficit into a tie game.
However, sophomore forward Ifeanyi Ehirim (Toronto, Ontario / Eldon Academy Prep) responded with a layup and Jackson hit his second three-pointer of the game to push the Colonials to a 27-22 advantage. Canisius eventually climbed back to tie the score at 32 thanks to a 10-5 spurt, but again Robert Morris responded, using an 8-2 run to take a 42-32 edge. Freshman guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) scored five points off the bench to spark the Colonials, while senior guard Derek Coleman (Dorchester, Mass. / Charlestown) added three points.
RMU entered the break with a 44-42 lead and seemed to break the game open in the second stanza by outscoring the Griffs, 10-2, to start the half. The Colonials received balanced scoring during the surge, as Jackson hit a three-pointer, Ehirim scored on a layup, Chappell hit a jumper in the lane and Coleman converted a three-point play. The biggest lead of the contest for Robert Morris came with 10:32 remaining when Lee scored a layup to give the Colonials a 62-50 lead. Malesa, however, would hit another three-pointer to cap a 9-3 Canisius spurt to close the Griffs' deficit to six, 65-59, but RMU scored five unanswered points to get its lead back to double digits, 70-59, with less than six minutes to play.
The Golden Griffs made on last gasp, using a 7-1 surge to make it a one possession game, 75-72 in favor of the Colonials, with 1:24 to play. Jovan Robinson hit a big three-pointer to close out the run, but on the ensuing inbounds Coleman has fouled by Shaun James. Coleman hit both free throws to push Robert Morris to a 77-72 lead with 34 ticks left on the second-half clock, but Robinson again hit a three-pointer to make it 77-75 in favor of RMU with 19 seconds to go. Coleman was again fouled on the inbounds, and he promptly sank both free throws with 14 seconds left to help seal the win.
Lee and Jackson each scored 17 points to pace the Colonials, with Jackson scoring 14 in the first half and Lee 13 after halftime. Lee finished a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, including 1-for-1 from beyond the arc, and also added seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Also scoring in double figures for Robert Morris was Coleman with 14 points, Nwigwe with a career high 12 points and Chappell with 10.
Robert Morris is now off until Saturday, Dec. 30, when it welcomes Division III Goucher to the Charles L. Sewall Center to close out its 2006-07 non-conference schedule with a 2:00 p.m. contest.
Notes: The win improved the Colonials to 7-3 overall for just the third time in the program's 31-year history ... RMU improved to 5-1 against Canisius in the all-time series, with four of the six games decided by five points or less ... The shooting percentage of 61.2 percent for Robert Morris at the Koessler Athletic Center broke Niagara's mark of 60.9 percent (31-for-51), which was set March 4, 1982 ... RMU's last shooting performance of better than 60 percent came in a 109-36 win over Medaille (12/29/05) when the club hit on 61.1 percent of its shots ... Ehirim contributed seven points, three rebounds and two blocks off the bench ... The Colonials finished with seven blocks in the contest, a season high, as joining Ehirim with a pair were Harris and Chappell ... Robert Morris notched 21 assists on its 30 field goals ... Coleman finished with five dimes while Chappell, Lee and Nwigwe each registered four ... RMU was outrebounded 32-29, including 17-7 on the offensive glass ... The Colonials finished with 38 points in the paint ... Jackson snapped a 4-for-28 slump shooting from beyond the arc by hitting three of his six three-point field goal attempts.
