Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center (December 22, 2009)-The Robert Morris University men's basketball team cut a nine-point second half deficit to just two points, but couldn't overcome a late Kent State University run in a 71-57 non-conference loss to the Golden Flashes at the Charles L. Sewall Center Tuesday night. The Colonials slip to 4-7 on the season while the Golden Flashes run their season mark to 7-4.
Freshman Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) led the Colonials with 13 points on 3-of-8 shooting, all three makes from three point range, and going 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) was the only other RMU player in double-digits, tallying 11 points to go with a team-high six boards. He hit all three of his three-point tries and was 2-of-4 from the free throw line. In all, 10 Robert Morris players scored in the game.
The Colonials struggled to find their offense early, turning the ball over six times before even getting a shot off. That first shot came 3:17 into the game and was a long two by senior Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) that stopped an 8-0 Kent State run to open the game. The Golden Flashes, however, scored six more unanswered points, four on free-throws, to push the margin to 14-2 at the first media timeout.
Kent State got up by as many as 13 points, 20-7, with 10:15 left in the opening frame. Back-to-back treys by Abraham cut the lead to seven points, but the Golden Flashes continued to score - mostly from the foul line. The visiting squad was awarded 21 first-half free throws, hitting 16 of those. Sophomore Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast) gave the Colonials momentum heading into the locker room by going coast-to-coast and getting fouled on a layup at the buzzer. He made the free-throw to make it a seven-point game, 33-26, at the break.
The teams traded blows in the early part of the second half before Abraham's third three of the game made it a two-point contest, 37-35, with 16:55 showing. Kent State's Brandon Parks dunk at 14:34 sparked a 9-1 Kent State run over the next three minutes.
RMU managed to muster one more comeback effort just after the halfway point of the second stanza. After a Tyree Evans three-ball made it a nine-point game, Johnson answered with a trey from the wing  to spark a 9-2 outburst from Robert Morris that ended with a short jumper from RMU freshman forward Brad Piehl (New Knoxville, Ohio / New Knoxville). His bucket left the Colonials trailing by just two points for the third time in the half, 51-49, with 7:10 left to play.
That, unfortunately, was as close as Kent State would allow the Colonials to get. Evans, who finished with 16 points, finished an old-fashioned three-point play on the next possession. That was the start of an 18-2 spurt from the Golden Flashes that pushed the lead to a game-high 18 points, 69-51, with 2:30 left.
Justin Greene led all scorers with 21 points for Kent State. He did his damage from the charity stripe, hitting 13-of-14 free throws and shooting 4-of-9 from the field. Evans finished 6-of-10 from the field.
The Colonials held Kent State to 39.6 percent (21-53) shooting from the field while converting at 39.5 percent (17-43) themselves. The Golden Flashes made the most of 28 free throws, hitting 23. RMU was 17-of-22 from the charity stripe.
Robert Morris is off through the Christmas holiday, returning to the hardwood when they travel to Youngstown State for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off Wednesday, December 30.
