Moon Township, Pa. - Redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) and senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) combined for 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting (.737) as the Robert Morris University men's basketball team stretched its winning streak to six games Thursday night with a 66-58 victory over Long Island.
The Colonials improved to 13-8 overall on the 2009-10 campaign with the win, including 8-1 in the Northeast Conference, while the Blackbirds dipped to 8-12 overall and 6-3 in league play.
Down three, 46-43, with 10:50 to play after a jumper from Jaytornah Wisseh, the only field goal on the game for LIU's leading scorer, Robert Morris used a 12-2 run to take a 55-47 advantage at the 6:22 mark of the second half.
Senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) started the surge with a layup, while Jones scored six points to bolster the Colonials.
Despite the run, the Colonials would score just one point in the next five minutes, which came courtesy of Robinson when he converted the back end of a pair of free throws with 4:26 remaining.
Long Island was able to climb within two, 56-54, during RMU's drought, with all six of its points during a 6-1 spurt coming at the free-throw line. Wisseh hit a trio at the charity stripe, while Kyle Johnson hit one and Jamal Olasewere hit a pair.
Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) gave RMU a 58-54 lead with a pair of free throws with 1:44 to go, and after Kenny Onyechi kept the Blackbirds within striking distance, 58-56, with a layup, a jumper in the paint from Jones with 1:09 to play again gave the Colonials a four-point lead, 60-56.
RMU sealed the victory at the free-throw line, as Nwigwe hit four from the charity stripe in the final 31 seconds, while junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) buried a pair with 16 seconds to play.
In the first half the Colonials scored the first eight points of the game en route to an early 10-2 lead, but LIU used an 11-2 run to take its first lead of the contest, 13-12, with 10:51 to play before intermission. It was the first of 12 lead changes in the contest, including six in the first half.
The Blackbirds owned a 29-28 lead with just 1:23 to play before halftime, but a pair of fastbreak baskets from Nwigwe helped the Colonials take a 32-29 edge at the break.
Jones finished 9-for-12 shooting from the field for a career-high 21 points to lead RMU, while Nwigwe added a career-high 20 points by converting five of his seven shots from the floor and going 10-for-11 at the free-throw line. Nwigwe also added a career-high nine rebounds.
Robinson chipped in with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Colonials, who shot 44.7 percent from the field (21-for-47) and a season-high 78.6 percent (22-for-30) at the free-throw line.
The Blackbirds were led by Olasewere, who posted 13 points and nine rebounds. Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double and posted a game-high three steals, while David Hicks finished with 10 points.
Robert Morris closes out a two-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 30, when it hosts St. Francis (N.Y.) at the Sewall Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.
