Moon Township, Pa. - Senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) hit all eight of his shots from the field and the Robert Morris University men's basketball team held an opponent to less than 40 points for just the third time in school history Thursday night in a 64-39 victory over Sacred Heart at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
RMU improved to 19-9 overall, including 14-1 in the Northeast Conference, on the 2009-10 campaign in earning its 12th straight win against league opponents, while the Pioneers slipped to 13-13 overall and 6-9 in NEC play.
The 39 points scored by Sacred Heart are the fewest allowed by the Colonials since a 65-37 win over Brooklyn Dec. 12, 1988, at the Sewall Center, while the school record for fewest points came in a 58-34 win over St. Francis (N.Y.) Jan. 17, 1987, also at the Sewall Center.
Robert Morris never trailed in the contest, holding the Pioneers to just three points in the first 12 minutes of the game while jumping out to an 18-3 advantage. Robinson scored eight points during the opening salvo, while senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) added four points.
Corey Hassan and Chauncey Hardy converted back-to-back layups to help SHU trim its deficit to 18-7 at the 6:59 mark of the first half, but a 9-1 run gave the Colonials their biggest advantage before the break, 27-8.
Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) scored the first four points of the spurt, while senior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil Community College) converted a three-point play.
RMU eventually entered intermission with a 30-15 lead, then opened the second half on a 14-4 run to increase its advantage to 44-19. Abraham buried a pair of three-pointers, while Robinson scored four points.
Sacred Heart closed its deficit to 47-30 at the 9:45 mark of the second half on the strength an 11-3 run, but the Pioneers would draw no closer. The biggest lead for the Colonials came with 4:10 to play when Nwigwe hit a three-pointer to give Robert Morris a 26-point advantage, 62-36.
Robinson finished 8-for-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line for a game-high 18 points while also tying for team-high honors in rebounds with six. Abraham added 17 points, while Whitehead contributed 10 points off the bench.
Hassan, the NEC's leading scorer, was held to 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including a 1-for-6 performance from long range, and was the only Pioneer to finish in double figures. Liam Potter added seven points and seven rebounds for Sacred Heart.
Robert Morris held the Pioneers to a shooting percentage of just 29.5 percent (13-for-44), including 11.8 percent (2-for-17) from long range.
Offensively, the Colonials shot 45.3 percent (24-for-53), including 52 percent (13-for-25) in the second half.
The Colonials conclude the home portion of its 2009-10 regular-season slate Saturday, Feb. 20, when it hosts Quinnipiac in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Sewall Center. A victory over the Bobcats would clinch a third straight outright NEC regular-season championship for RMU.
