Cleveland, Ohio - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team produced a furious rally in the second half Monday night at the Wolstein Center, but Norris Cole went 3-for-4 at the free-throw line in the final 43 seconds to help Cleveland State hold on for a 58-53 victory over RMU.
Still in search of its first road win of the 2010-11 campaign, the Colonials dipped to 2-3 overall, while the Vikings continued their best start in school history by improving to a perfect 8-0.
Leading at halftime, 33-17, Cleveland State continued to pour it on in the opening minutes of the second half, stretching its lead to 43-23 after a three-pointer from Jeremy Montgomery.
The Vikings took their largest lead of the contest, 48-26, at the 14:12 mark of the second half after Luda Ndaye hit the front end of a pair of free throws.
From that point forward, however, Robert Morris outscored Cleveland State, 27-10, pulling to within a basket before Cole helped seal the win for the Vikings at the charity stripe. CSU finished with just two field goals in the final 14:12 of action and suffered eight of its 12 turnovers during the same time span.
Redshirt sophomore Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) started a 14-0 run for Robert Morris with a three-pointer and scored eight points during the surge, while sophomore forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) added four points.
Cole got the lead back to double digits for the Vikings, 50-40, with a dunk off a steal, but four straight points from Thompson and a jumper from freshman forward Yann Charles (Longueuil, Quebec / Champlain St. Albert) trimmed RMU's deficit to 50-46 with 5:46 to play.
Just over a minute later Cole would give Cleveland State some breathing room, 53-46, by converting a three-point play after a layup while being fouled by freshman guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep).
Johnson answered the three-point play by Cole with his fifth three-pointer of the game with 4:09 remaining, and after a pair of free throws from Aaron Pogue, a layup from Thompson and a running jumper by senior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) with just 1:13 to go made it a one possession game, 55-53.
Cole was fouled by Thompson with 43 seconds left and hit the back end of a pair of free throws to give the Vikings a 56-53 advantage, and out of a timeout Johnson's three-point attempt with 13 seconds remaining was off the mark.
Redshirt sophomore guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) came up with the offensive rebound, but Cole notched his fifth steal of the night and sealed the win with a pair of free throws after being fouled.
Cleveland State shot 58.3 percent (14-for-24) in the first half in jumping out to leads of 20-5, 22-7 and 33-14. Cole scored 17 of his game-high 29 points before intermission, while Trevon Harmon added 10 points in the first stanza.
Johnson produced the best shooting night of his young career, scoring 17 of his career-high 22 points in the second half. He finished 8-for-13 from the field, including a 5-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. Johnson also added four rebounds, an assist and two steals.
Off the bench Thompson recorded his first career double-figure scoring game with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the free-throw line. He also tied for team-high honors in rebounds with six, including five offensive, and posted a block and a steal.
The rest of the Colonials, however, converted just seven of their 30 attempts from the field, a shooting percentage of just 23.3 percent.
Robert Morris continues its five-game road swing by opening Northeast Conference play Thursday, Dec. 2, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Long Island at the Wellness, Recreation and Athletic Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Notes: RMU converted 48.3 percent (14-for-29) of its shots after halftime but failed to shoot at least 40 percent for the fifth straight game to open the season, finishing at 39.6 percent (19-for-48) ... The Colonials shot a season-high 50 percent (6-for-12) from beyond the arc ... For the fourth time in five games Robert Morris held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Vikings by 12 and dominating the boards, 36-24 ... RMU held an 18-11 advantage on the offensive glass to post a 19-12 edge in second chance points ... The Robert Morris bench produced 14 points and 13 rebounds compared to one point and five rebounds for the Cleveland State reserves ... Johnson has scored in double figures in each of his five games this season, the longest stretch of his career ... Robert Morris posted 11 steals, including three from Jones ... Jones added five points, three rebounds and five assists ... Charles scored four points and tied for team-high honors in rebounds with Thompson with six and also posted a pair of blocks ... Cleveland State shot 44.7 percent (21-for-47) from the field overall but were just 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) in the second half ... The starting five for the Vikings played 177 of a possible 200 minutes ... Sophomore guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) did not play for the second consecutive game due to a violation of team rules.
