Moon Township, Pa. - Senior guard Bateko Francisco's (Paris, France / Fort Scott J.C.) jumper with 2.7 seconds remaining capped a 40-15 run over the final 16:07 of the second half to propel the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to a 74-72 win over Youngstown State Tuesday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Thanks to the come-from-behind win the Colonials improve to 2-3 with the victory, while the Penguins fall to 1-3.
Francisco's jumper came off a missed three-pointer by senior guard Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) and was his first field goal of the game. Youngstown State had one last crack, but Vance Cooksey never got a shot off in the final seconds coming up the court, helping RMU avoid its first thee-game losing streak since the 2005-06 season.
The win marks the biggest come-from-behind victory since the Colonials climbed out of a 53-34 deficit against St. Francis (N.Y.) at the Charles L. Sewall Center Jan. 10, 2000. RMU garnered a 73-63 win over the Terriers with a 39-10 run over the final 14:55.
Behind by 23, 57-34, with 16:07 to play after a layup by Kelvin Bright, the Colonials used 17-2 surge to trim its deficit to single digits, 59-51, with 11:34 to go. Junior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) started the run with a three-pointer and scored all 13 of his points on the game during the salvo, including a pair of trifecta's and a pair from the charity stripe.
Jack Liles gave the Penguins a 61-51 advantage with 11:21 remaining, but a 13-4 run by Robert Morris made it a one possession game, 65-64 in favor of YSU, with 6:02 to go. Senior forward Ifeanyi Ehirim (Toronto, Ontario / Eldon Academy Prep) scored four points, while Chappell hit a three-pointer. DeAndre Mays hit a pair from the free-throw line to give the Penguins a 67-64 edge, and Youngstown State held the lead until Francisco hit the back end of a pair of free throws to knot the score, 67-67, with 3:03 to play.
RMU took its first lead of the game, 70-67, at the 2:20 mark of the second half when Chappell hit a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Youngstown State answered with a jumper from Bright to pull within one, 70-69.
Sophomore guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) hit a pair of free throws with just one minute left in regulation to get the lead back to three for Robert Morris, 72-69, but Vytas Sulskis drained his fourth three-pointer of the game with 38 ticks left to tie the score, 72-72.
The Colonials called timeout, and looking for the last shot in regulation, Chappell missed a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Francisco came down with the offensive rebound before putting up the game-winning shot.
Youngstown State never trailed in the first half, building a 16-point lead, 31-15, before entering halftime with a 45-30 advantage. Bright scored 13 points before the break, while Sulskis added 12.
Sulskis took home game-high honors with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including a 4-for-6 performance from long range, while Chappell paced the Colonials with 20 points. Bright contributed 17 points for the Penguins, while Sirlester Martin finished with 13. Langhurst scored all 13 of his points after halftime for the Colonials.
Robert Morris continues non-conference play by visiting Iona Saturday, Nov. 29, with a 7:30 p.m. tilt in New Rochelle, N.Y.
