New Britain, Conn. - Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) and senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) combined for 30 points as the Robert Morris University men's basketball team returned to Northeast Conference play Thursday night with a 69-60 win over Central Connecticut State at Detrick Gymnasium.
RMU, which clinched a berth in the 2010 NEC Tournament with the victory, improved to 17-9 overall, including 12-1 in league play, while clinching its fifth straight winning season for the first time in school history. The Blue Devils slipped to 9-15 overall and 6-7 in conference action.
A tight battle in the early going, the Colonials used a 14-2 run to turn a 14-14 tie into a 28-16 lead with 5:26 to play before halftime.
Six different players scored for Robert Morris during the surge, including a three-point play from senior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil Community College) and a three-pointer from redshirt freshman forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester).
Meanwhile, defense took center stage, as Robert Morris held Central Connecticut State without a field goal for almost 11 minutes while putting together its run.
Joe Efese helped the Blue Devils end their drought with a jumper, which started a 10-4 spurt for CCSU that trimmed its deficit to four, 32-28, with 2:28 remaining before the break.
Junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) stopped the run by burying a three-pointer to give RMU a 35-28 edge, and the Colonials eventually entered the half with a 37-32 advantage.
In the second half Robert Morris kept up the defensive pressure while putting together an 18-6 run to take its biggest lead of the contest, 55-38, with 11:39 to play. Again it was a balanced attack offensively for the Colonials, as Robinson and Abraham were two of six different players to score by each contributing four points.
Central Connecticut State again went dry from the field, failing to convert a field goal for over seven minutes as Robert Morris built its double-digit lead.
Markeys Dean snapped the drought with a layup at the 11:17 mark of the second half, which started an 9-0 spurt that allowed the Blue Devils to close within eight, 55-47. Shemik Thompson scored five points, while Dean added four.
The Colonials would snap their own five-minute drought without a field goal thanks to a jumper from senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) to help stop CCSU's run, and Abraham's three-pointer with 5:30 to play quickly pushed RMU's lead back to double digits, 60-48.
The Blue Devils would draw no closer than seven points the rest of the contest, with a dunk by senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) helping cap the victory with just 1:13 to go to give Robert Morris a 65-54 advantage.
Abraham paced RMU for the fifth straight game by tying for game-high honors with 16 points while adding an assist, block and steal, while Robinson converted seven of his 11 shots from the floor for 14 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Off the bench Johnson added eight points, while Wallace contributed seven.
CCSU was led by Thompson, who scored 16 points and added seven assists, while Deans and Efese each finished with 14 points.
The Blue Devils shot just 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the field, including 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from long range, while the Colonials converted an even 50 percent of their shots from both the field (26-for-52) and beyond the arc (6-for-12).
Robert Morris concludes its three-game road swing Saturday, Feb. 13, when it takes on Bryant in a 3:30 p.m. tip at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I.
