Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team had its 13-game home winning streak snapped Saturday night with a 65-52 loss to Appalachian State at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
RMU, which shot just 26.1 percent (18-for-69) from the field, fell to 4-6 overall with the defeat, while the Mountaineers improved to 7-4.
The Colonials jumped out to a 9-3 advantage early in the contest as redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) scored RMU's first five points while senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) and redshirt freshman forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) each drained jumpers.
Appalachian State responded with an 18-5 spurt to take a 21-14 advantage as seven different Mountaineers scored a basket during the run. Kellen Brand buried a pair of three-pointers during the surge, including one at the 10:32 mark of the first half that gave ASU just its second lead, 17-14.
Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) came off the bench to give Robert Morris a spark, scoring five straight points to close the deficit for the Colonials to 21-19, but Appalachian State outscored RMU, 12-5, over the remainder 5:50 of the first half to take a 33-24 edge into halftime.
In the second stanza the Mountaineers pushed their lead back to double digits, 37-27, after a layup from Isaac Butts with 15:32 remaining and had a pair of 13-point advantages in the second half. The second came with 8:15 to go when Marcus Wright drained a three-pointer to increase the lead for ASU to 48-35.
However, the Colonials reeled off a 14-2 run to close within one, 50-49, at the 5:15 mark of the second half. Abraham and senior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) each scored six points during the surge, with Langhurst burying a pair of three-pointers while Abraham hit a trifecta of his own while going 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.
RMU had an opportunity to take its first lead since early in the contest with 4:26 to play, but Langhurst's three-pointer was off the mark.
Jeremi Booth helped stop the bleeding for Appalachian State with a three-pointer, and the Mountaineers sealed the win by going 12-for-14 at the free-throw line in the last 3:13 of action.
Abraham led the Colonials with 15 points, while Langhurst contributed 14 points and four rebounds. Johnson scored four points for Robert Morris off the bench and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
Donald Sims paced ASU with 17 points, while Booth added 11 and Brand 10. Butts finished with six points, 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks for the Mountaineers, while Josh Hunter came off the bench to supply seven points and 10 caroms as Appalachian State outrebounded Robert Morris, 44-40.
The Colonials welcome Kent State to the Sewall Center for their next contest, hosting the Golden Flashes Tuesday, Dec. 22, for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
