Moon Township, Pa. - Senior forward A.J. Jackson (Monessen, Pa. / Monessen) recorded his second consecutive double-double, and seventh of the 2006-07 campaign, with a season high 34 points and a game high 12 rebounds to help lead the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to a 90-74 win over Long Island Monday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center in the club's 2006-07 regular-season finale. The victory, coupled with a Fairleigh Dickinson loss at St. Francis (N.Y.), 72-69, boosts RMU into a fourth place tie in the Northeast Conference standings. The Colonials are tied with FDU and Mount St. Mary's, but with a combined record of 3-1 against those two opponents in the regular season, Robert Morris will host the Mount Thursday, March 1, at the Sewall Center for a 2007 NEC Tournament quarterfinal matchup slated to tip at 7:00 p.m.
Against the Blackbirds, RMU used a 17-5 run late in the second half to turn a 59-59 deadlock into a 74-64 edge with 3:31 to play, and the Colonials finished 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the last 1:42 to help seal the victory. During the surge Jackson scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, while sophomore guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) added five points. Senior guard Derek Coleman (Dorchester, Mass. / Charlestown) helped seal the victory by going 8-for-8 from the charity stripe in the last 1:42 of action and was 10-for-10 from the line on the game.
In the first half the Colonials jumped out to an 11-4 advantage as Jackson scored eight points, but RMU then went cold offensively, allowing Long Island to score eight straight points to take a 12-11 lead. Robert Morris missed its first nine three-point attempts on the night and finished just 3-for-14 (21.4 percent) from long range in the first half. The Blackbirds eventually stretched their lead to 18-13 after a three-pointer from Eugene Kotorobai, and the LIU advantage eventually swelled to eight, 27-19, with 6:53 left before halftime after another trifecta from Kotorobai. Robert Morris reeled off eight straight points to knot the score at 27-27 and eventually entered the break with a 37-33 lead after a pair of free throws from Coleman with six seconds left on the first-half clock.
Jackson finished 14-for-21 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line for his 34 points while also adding 12 rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Coleman contributed 21 points, four rebounds and six assists, while Chappell, despite an 0-for-7 performance from beyond the arc, finished with 15 points. James Williams paced LIU with 24 points and dished out six assists, while Kotorobai added 22 and nine rebounds.
The victory improved Robert Morris to 17-10 overall on the 2006-07 campaign and settled the club's NEC record at 9-9 on the year, while Long Island concluded its 2006-07 season with an overall record of 10-19 and 6-12 in league play.
Notes: For the second straight year RMU will play Mount St. Mary's in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals ... The Colonials garnered a 67-66 win over the Mount at Knott Arena (3/2/06) in Emmitsburg, Md., in last year's quarterfinals ... Junior guard Tony Lee (Boston, Mass. / Charlestown) was held to nine points but added six assists as he played only 27 minutes due to foul trouble ... As a club Robert Morris shot 51.6 percent (32-for-62) from the field, including 56.3 percent (18-for-32) in the second half ... LIU finished with a shooting percentage of 33.3 percent (19-for-57) and hit on only 29 percent (9-for-31) of its field goal attempts after halftime ... RMU outscored the Blackbirds, 42-12, in points in the paint ... Jackson pushed his career totals in points to 953 and rebounds to 484 in the win ... The Colonials posted 20 assists on their 32 field goals.
