Moon Township, Pa. - Led by six players in double figures, the Robert Morris University men's basketball team won its seventh straight home opener Tuesday night with an 86-75 victory over Delaware at the Charles L. Sewall Center as part of the Garden State Challenge. The win improves the Colonials to 1-1 on the 2008-09 campaign, while the Blue Hens fall to 0-2.
Junior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil C.C.) opened the game's scoring with a layup at the 18:58 mark, which started the Colonials on a 10-0 spurt to open the game. Junior guard Bateko Francisco (Paris, France / Fort Scott J.C.) and sophomore guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) each hit three-pointers during the surge to bolster RMU to a double-digit lead.
Delaware was able to trim its deficit to 18-12 after jumpers from Edwin Santiago and Brian Johnson, but a 16-3 run opened up a 34-15 advantage for Robert Morris at the 6:18 mark of the first half. Whitehead led the charge with eight points, while senior guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) added a pair of three-pointers.
RMU kept its lead in double digits the rest of the half, with the Blue Hens closing to within 43-28 at the break.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Chappell and Wallace pushed the Robert Morris lead to 49-30 in the opening minutes after halftime, and a trifecta from junior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) gave the Colonials a 54-33 cushion.
The biggest lead of the night for the Colonials was 23 points, as senior forward Ifeanyi Ehirim (Toronto, Ontario / Eldon Academy Prep) hit a layup with 15:08 to play to give Robert Morris a 56-33 advantage, and a three-pointer from junior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) gave RMU a 59-36 lead with 13:47 remaining.
Down 22 with 12:08 to go, Delaware reeled off a 15-6 run to close its deficit to 67-54 at the 5:44 mark of the second half. Johnson scored seven points during the spurt for the Blue Hens, while Santiago added a pair of jumpers.
Marc Egerson's dunk off a missed three-pointer by Alphonso Dawson trimmed Delaware's deficit to single digits, 73-64, for the first time since the opening minutes with 2:15 remaining, and the Blue Hens clawed to within seven points on a pair of occasions in the last two minutes before the Colonials sealed the win at the free-throw line. In the last 1:37 of action, Robert Morris hit 11 of its 12 attempts from the charity stripe.
Chappell and Langhurst led the Colonials with 19 points each, while Chappell recorded his second straight double-double to open the season by recording a team-high 13 rebounds. Whitehead and Wallace each chipped in with 12 points, while Francisco finished with 11 points and Ehirim a career-high 10.
Jawan Carter paced Delaware, which finished 6-for-30 from beyond the arc and 19-for-32 at the free-throw line, with 21 points, while Egerson finished with 16 points and a game-high 16 boards. Johnson contributed 13 points for the Blue Hens, while Santiago finished with 12.
Robert Morris concludes the Garden State Challenge with a pair of games this weekend at Rutgers University, squaring off with the host Scarlet Knights Friday, Nov. 21, at 8:00 p.m., before facing Marist Saturday, Nov. 22, at 5:30 p.m.
