Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team returned to action after an 11-day layoff Thursday night with a 63-57 victory over Mount St. Mary's at the Charles L. Sewall Center in the 2009-10 Northeast Conference opener for both programs.
RMU improves to 2-4 overall on the season, including 1-0 in league play, while the Mount fell to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in NEC action.
Robert Morris improved to 30-4 (.882) all-time in home openers and 13-16 (.448) all-time in league openers with the win. The Colonials have now won eight straight home openers while snapping a three-game slide in league lidlifters.
Mount St. Mary's missed its first nine shots from the field to open the game and converted just five of its 25 attempts (20 percent) from the floor in the first half as RMU never trailed in the contest.
Jumpers from senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) and senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest), a three-pointer from senior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard) and a free throw by sophomore guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) gave Robert Morris an early 8-0 lead.
Danny Thompson converted the first field goal of the game for the Mount at the 14:22 mark of the first half, but the Colonials took their first double-digit advantage, 16-5, with 11:02 to play before the break with a jumper from Jones.
The biggest lead of the game for Robert Morris came when Nwigwe converted a layup to give RMU a 22-9 lead, but Mount St. Mary's stayed within striking distance thanks to converting at the free-throw line.
The Mount finished 9-for-14 from the charity stripe in the first half, but freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) hit the back end of a pair attempts from the stripe to help give the Colonials a 28-19 lead at the break.
The Colonials kept Mount St. Mary's at bay most of the second half, but a 12-4 run helped the Mount close to within 49-48 with 6:50 to play. RMU called timeout, and after the break sophomore forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) buried a three-pointer to push RMU to a 52-48 advantage.
Johnson would add a jumper, while senior forward Rob Robinson's (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) jumper with 3:43 extended the lead to 56-50 for Robert Morris.
Nwigwe converted a pair of free throws with 1:19 remaining to keep the Colonials in front, while Robinson sealed the victory thanks to a dunk with under a minute to play that gave RMU a 62-56 advantage.
Langhurst became the sixth different player to lead Robert Morris in scoring in as many games to start the year, finishing with 11 points. Johnson added nine points off the bench, while Robinson, Nwigwe and junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) each scored eight points. Nwigwe grabbed seven rebounds and added three assists and a steal in a team-high 29 minutes.
Mount St. Mary's was led by Jeremy Goode, who scored 15 points but shot just 3-for-9 from the floor. Shawn Atupem finished with 13 points, while Kelly Beidler contributed 10 points and eight rebounds.
Robert Morris returns to the hardwood Saturday, Dec. 5, when it continues league play by welcoming Wagner to the Sewall Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip. The Colonials will be presented with their championship rings from the 2008-09 campaign in a ceremony prior to the game.
