Cleveland, Ohio - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team shot 53.7 percent (22-for-41) from the field in notching its first road victory of the 2009-10 campaign with a 78-70 win over Cleveland State at the Wolstein Center.
RMU improves to 4-5 overall, while the Vikings fell to 4-7.
CSU jumped out to leads of 5-0, 12-4 and 18-11 early in the game, but the Colonials used a 10-2 spurt to take their first lead of the contest, 21-20, with 7:46 remaining before halftime.
Senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) scored four points during the run, while senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) gave Robert Morris its first advantage with a layup after a dish from Green.
Jared Cunnigham's jumper would push Cleveland State back in front, 22-21, and the Vikings held the lead for the next three minutes before redshirt freshman Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) drained a three-pointer at the 3:36 mark of the first half to give RMU a 28-27 advantage. The trifecta was part of a 9-5 surge to close out the first half that gave Robert Morris a 34-32 lead at intermission.
Freshman Brad Piehl (New Knoxville, Ohio / New Knoxville) was a key factor during the run for the Colonials in the final minutes of the first half, providing an assist on a layup from freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) while scoring the final four points of the stanza. His layup with just one second to play before halftime gave Robert Morris its two-point cushion at the break.
RMU never trailed in the second half, as senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) opened the scoring after the intermission with a layup, while six straight points from senior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil Community College) helped the Colonials take a 42-39 edge.
Trevon Harmon would knot the game with a three-pointer, 42-42, with 15:44 to play, but a 17-3 run would give Robert Morris its biggest lead of the contest, 59-45, with 7:33 to go. Six different Colonials scored during the surge, including five points from junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) and four points from Abraham.
Entering the contest with a success rate of just 61.5 percent (91-for-148) at the free-throw line, Robert Morris would weather Cleveland State's last charge by scoring each of its last 19 points of the game from the charity stripe.
Wallace converted all six of his attempts at the stripe in the final 1:31 of action, while senior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) was 7-for-8 at the line in the last six and-a-half minutes.
RMU converted 29 of its 39 attempts at the free-throw line in the game, a season-high success rate of 74.4 percent. Wallace led Robert Morris with 14 points, including 11 in the second half, while Langhurst added 10 points for RMU.
Eight different Colonials scored at least six points in the win, with Johnson scoring all nine of his points in the first half while Piehl and Abraham each finished with eight points. Green tallied seven points and a team-high six rebounds, and despite being held to four points, Robinson contributed five rebounds and a team-high four assists.
The Vikings were led by Norris Cole, who scored a game-high 22 points, while Harmon finished with 17 points and five assists and D'Aundray Brown contributed 11 points and six dimes.
Cleveland State shot just 40.7 percent (24-for-59) from the floor, including 32 percent (8-for-25) from long range, and hit just 14 of its 23 attempts (60.9 percent) at the free-throw line.
Robert Morris returns home to the Charles L. Sewall Center to continue non-conference action by hosting Appalachian State Saturday, Dec. 19, for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
