Loretto, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team used a 15-4 run over the final 4:46 of play to surge past in-state rival Saint Francis (Pa.) Thursday night with a 76-67 win over the Red Flash at DeGol Arena.
RMU stretched its winning streak to eight and improved to 15-8 overall with the victory, including 10-1 in the Northeast Conference, while the Red Flash fell to 7-15 overall and 5-6 in league play. It also marked the sixth straight victory for the Colonials at DeGol Arena, a school record for consecutive victories on a conference opponent's home court.
Tied at 61 after a jumper from redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic), Chris Johnson gave Saint Francis (Pa.) its final lead, 63-61, with 4:46 remaining after a layup.
Robert Morris answered with senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology), who started the final surge with a jumper in the paint to tie the game for the eighth time, 63-63.
Cedric Latimer tried to push the Red Flash back on top, but his three-pointer was off the mark, and redshirt freshman forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) gave the Colonials the lead for good with a layup with 3:29 to go.
SFU then missed three consecutive shots, and Robinson helped RMU open up a four-point lead, 67-63, with 2:07 to play with another jumper. Freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) helped seal the win by converting a three-point play after a layup and foul by Kurt Hoffman with 1:18 remaining.
Robert Morris, which shot 50 percent (25-for-50) from the field and 80.8 percent (21-for-26) at the free-throw line, hit four of its five attempts from the charity stripe in the final 1:07 of action, including a pair each from Abraham and junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep).
The final run allowed the Colonials to climb out of an eight-point deficit in the first half and a five-point disadvantage at halftime, 43-38.
Senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) hit a three-pointer as time expired in the first stanza to close RMU to within five at the break, and Robert Morris scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 47-43 edge with 16:43 to go.
The Red Flash didn't score their first points after intermission until Johnson converted a layup to pull Saint Francis (Pa.) back to within two, 47-45, at the 12:48 mark, while the Colonials went almost five minutes without a field goal after scoring the first nine points of the half.
The two teams battled the rest of the second half, with neither squad owning a lead of more than five before RMU's final spurt decided the game.
In the first half the Red Flash shot 56.7 percent (17-for-30) from the field as Devin Sweetney, Will Felder and Sorena Orandi combined for 34 of SFU's 43 points, including 13 by Sweetney. However, the trio scored just 11 points after the break while shooting just 35.7 percent (5-for-14) from the floor.
Sweetney took home game-high honors with 18 points and also added eight assists and three steals, while Felder finished with 17 points and Orandi 10.
Robert Morris was led by Abraham, who scored seven of his team-high 13 points in RMU's final flurry. Johnson added 12 points and Wallace 11 off the bench for the Colonials, while Jones, Nwigwe and senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northeast) each chipped in with nine points.
Green and Nwigwe each grabbed six rebounds as RMU held a 36-23 edge on the glass.
Robert Morris concludes its home-and-home series with the Red Flash when it hosts Saint Francis (Pa.) at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday, Feb. 6, for a 7:00 p.m. to wrapup the NEC's "Rivalry Week."
