New Britain, Conn. - Senior guard Derek Coleman's (Dorchester, Mass. / Charlestown) jumper with less than a second to play hit the front end of the rim and Central Connecticut State climbed out of an eight-point deficit in the last six minutes to down the Robert Morris University men's basketball team, 88-86, Thursday night at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, Conn. The defeat drops the Colonials to 16-9 overall on the 2006-07 campaign, including 8-8 in Northeast Conference play, while the Blue Devils improved to 18-11 overall and 15-2 in league action.
CCSU owned a 60-54 lead with 11:08 remaining after a three-pointer from Tristan Blackwood, one of 10 made on the game for the senior guard, but RMU responded with a 14-1 surge to take a 68-61 lead with 6:43 to go. Sophomore guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) started the run with a three-pointer and finished with seven points during the run, while junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown) also added seven points. A layup from Jemino Sobers helped the Blue Devils close their deficit to five, 68-63, but the Colonial lead was extended to eight, 71-63, with exactly six minutes to play when freshman guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) drained a three-pointer after grabbing an offensive rebound.
Blackwood hit a three-pointer and Javier Mojica would add a layup to close Central Connecticut State within three, 71-68, but Chappell answered with a trifecta of his own to give Robert Morris a 74-68 edge at the 5:02 mark of the second half. Blackwood's antics from beyond the arc continued, as his three-pointer on the next CCSU possession pulled the Blue Devils within one possession again, 74-71, and after a Coleman turnover Mojica hit a pair from the free-throw line to get Central Connecticut State within one, 74-73, with 4:08 to go.
Lee helped RMU stay ahead by hitting one of his two opportunities at the charity stripe, but Blackwood hit his fifth three-pointer of the half to push the Blue Devils in front, 75-74, with 3:40 remaining. After a few missed opportunities by both clubs, Coleman scored a fastbreak layup on a feed from Lee to push the Colonials back in front, 77-76. However, with 2:13 to play senior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, Pa. / Monessen) was called for a technical, and Blackwood drained both of his shots from the free-throw line to push Central back in front, 78-77. On the ensuing possession for the Blue Devils, Sobers hit a runner in the paint to up the lead to 80-77 with 2:01 remaining.
Robert Morris clawed back, as Lee's layup with 1:39 to go closed the Colonials to within one, 80-79, but Obie Nwadike's layup at the 1:11 mark of the second half kept it a three-point lead for Central, 82-79. Sophomore forward Ifeanyi Ehirim (Toronto, Ontario / Eldon Academy Prep) pulled RMU within one again, 82-81, thanks to a jumper in the lane, but Mojica drained a three-pointer with 37 seconds to go to help give the Blue Devils an 85-81 lead. On the play, Jackson was whistled for a foul after the play, sending Nwadike to the line for a pair of free throws. He hit just one of the two, and Chappell kept Robert Morris in the game with a three-pointer from the corner with 14 seconds to go.
Mojica was immediately fouled by Lee on the inbounds pass, and he promptly hit both to give CCSU an 88-84 edge, but Coleman scored a quick layup with just seven seconds to play to get it to a one possession game again, 88-86. Blackwood was then fouled by Chappell even before the ball was thrown back into play, but Blackwood would miss both of his tries from the free-throw line, and Coleman came down with the board. Coleman drove the length of the court and spotted up to hit a jumper just inside the three-point line as time was winding down, but his shot was short. Lee grabbed the offensive board, but his putback was called off as time expired.
Blackwood led all scorers in the game with 40 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the field, including 10-for-17 from beyond the arc. Chappell led Robert Morris with a career high 31 points while adding six rebounds and five assists. Lee contributed 16 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and five steals for the Colonials, while Jackson notched 18 points, five boards and four blocks.
The Colonials close out their two-game swing through Connecticut Saturday, Feb. 24, with a noon game at Quinnipiac.
Notes: Robert Morris held a 44-38 halftime lead thanks to a shooting percentage of 61.3 percent (19-for-31) in the first half ... On the game the Colonials shot 57.4 percent (35-for-61), while CCSU converted 43.9 percent (29-for-66) of its field goal attempts ... Coleman finished with just six points and is still four shy of 1,000 for his career ... Lee now needs just 13 points for 1,000 for his career and once he eclipses the plateau would become just the sixth player in league annals, and first as a junior, to go over career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists ... Lee owns 513 career caroms and 257 dimes ... RMU dominated points in the paint, 44-28 ... The Blue Devils held a 37-36 edge on the glass, including a 19-11 advantage in offensive rebounds ... Robert Morris posted 20 assists on its 35 field goals.
