Moon Township, Pa. - The No. 1 seeded Robert Morris University men's basketball team connected on 12 of its 21 field goals (57 percent) to start the game, including four early three-pointers, to take a 30-12 lead, and the Colonials never looked back in a 73-60 victory over No. 8 seed St. Francis (N.Y.) in the 2009 NEC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

Thanks to the win the Colonials improve to 22-10 overall on the 2008-09 campaign, while the Terriers conclude their season with an overall record of 10-20.

NEC Player of the Year Jeremy Chappell (Cincinnati, Ohio / Northwest) paced RMU with 19 points and six assists, hitting seven of his 14 attempts from the field. Junior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) tallied nine points and 13 rebounds, one shy of a career high, while junior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) went for 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

The Colonials connected on three of their first four three-point attempts and led 17-6 just over five minutes into the contest. St. Francis (N.Y.) opened the game by shooting just 2-for-10 from the floor, and the Terriers went scoreless over a six-plus minute stretch midway through the half while RMU went on a 10-1 run to take control of the game.

All nine Robert Morris players who saw action in the first half scored. RMU finished the first half shooting 48 percent (14-for-29) from the field and also received 13 points from its bench before intermission.

St. Francis (N.Y.) senior guard Jamaal Womack tallied 15 of the 23 points in the first half for the Terriers, including a pair of  three-pointers in the final 1:29 of the stanza in helping St. Francis (N.Y.) close the half on an 8-0 run and climb to within 37-23 at the break.

Ironically, all five of the field goals in the first half for the Terriers came from behind the three-point line.

“I thought out intensity and focus was very good in the first 10 or 15 minutes,” said RMU head coach and NEC Coach of the Year Mike Rice. “Even when it got to single digits in the second half, I liked our fight. We came away with some empty possessions but we defended well on what St. Francis was trying to do.”

Robert Morris led, 60-42, with 9:48 left in the game but went scoreless for more than three minutes. The Terriers scored nine straight points and trailed, 60-51, with 7:02 remaining, but St. Francis (N.Y.) would get no closer.

“Obviously we're disappointed with the outcome,” said St. Francis (N.Y.) head coach Brian Nash. “We know we dug ourselves too much of a hole in the first half. Anytime you get down 20 points to a team that is that good on their home court and they're playing as hard as they were, it's tough to battle. We did a good job but we couldn't get the one or two plays back-and-forth that might have made it a five-point game.”

Womack finished with 18 points and four treys in his final collegiate game for the Terriers, while Ricky Cadell posted a game-high 20 points.

Robert Morris will now take on No. 5 seed Quinnipiac, an 86-78 overtime winner over No. 4 seed Long Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Colonials and Bobcats will duel on Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m. at the Sewall Center.