Moon Township, Pa. - Redshirt freshman Russell Johnson's (Chester, Pa. / Chester) three-pointer with 5:57 remaining ignited a 15-4 run by the Robert Morris University men's basketball team Thursday night en route to an 80-73 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
RMU moved over .500 for the first time on the 2009-10 campaign with the victory, improving to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in the Northeast Conference, while the Knights fell to 4-13 overall and 3-2 in league action.
Alvin Mofunanya had given FDU a 56-55 edge by hitting a pair of free throws with 6:21 to go, but Johnson buried a wide open three-pointer to propel the deciding run that was fueled by 13 straight points from Colonials in their first season of Division I basketball.
Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy), who scored all of his team-high 20 points in the second half, and redshirt freshman Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) each contributed five points during the surge, while senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) capped the run with a jumper in the paint with 1:39 to play that gave Robert Morris a 70-60 lead.
In the final minute of action the Colonials converted eight of their nine attempts at the free-throw line, including a perfect 5-for-5 showing from Abraham. On the 2009-10 campaign, Abraham is 13-for-13 at the charity stripe in the final minute of games.
RMU jumped out to an early 14-5 advantage at the beginning of the contest as six different Colonials scored, with Jones leading the way with four points.
Robert Morris took its first double-digit lead at the 8:44 mark of the first half, 20-9, thanks to a pair of free throws from junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep), but the Knights closed the half on a 22-11 surge to knot the score at the break, 31-31.
Terence Grier converted a pair of baskets on the fastbreak and scored eight points during the run, including a layup with four seconds left in the first stanza that tied the score at halftime.
Neither team led by more than five in the second half until Robert Morris went on its final run late to seal the victory. Fairleigh Dickinson had a trio of one-point leads after halftime, each of which came courtesy of Mofunanya, who scored a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and a 7-for-10 showing at the free-throw line.
Abraham finished 11-for-12 at the free-throw line and after missing each of his five shots from the field in the first half converted four of his eight attempts from the floor after intermission to lead the Colonials in scoring.
Robinson contributed 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and tied a Sewall Center record for blocks by a Colonial with five. Jones finished with 12 points, while Johnson added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
Sean Baptiste added 18 points, five rebounds and four steals for the Knights, while Grier finished with 17 points and three steals and Mike Scott 11 points and a game-high five assists.
Both teams enjoyed solid shooting nights, with RMU converting a season-high 55.1 percent (27-for-49) of its shots, while FDU converted 23 of its 44 attempts (52.3 percent) from the floor.
Robert Morris concludes a two-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 16, when it welcomes Monmouth to the Sewall Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
