Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team shot a season-high 64.1 percent (25-for-39) from the field Saturday night en route to a 75-63 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) at the Charles L. Sewall Center to run its winning streak to nine and conclude play of "Rivalry Week" in the Northeast Conference.
RMU moved to 16-8 overall and 11-1 in the NEC thanks to the win, while the Red Flash dropped to 7-16 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
Down by two, 21-19, at the 8:18 mark of the first half, the Colonials took control with a 14-5 run that opened up a 33-26 advantage with just 3:09 to play before halftime.
Freshman forward Brad Piehl (New Knoxville, Ohio / New Knoxville) started the spurt with a jumper, while redshirt freshman forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) converted a three-point play and freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) buried a three-pointer.
The tail end of RMU's surge included a free-throw by senior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil Community College), which started a stretch of 13 consecutive points in the game which came at the free-throw line over the span of a minute and-a-half.
Robert Morris eventually entered halftime with a 43-32 edge after four straight points from senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northeast), including a fastbreak layup and a dunk, both of which came off feeds from junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep).
The Red Flash were never able to trim their deficit into single digits the rest of the contest, with RMU opening the second half on a 17-7 run to take a 60-39 lead with 14:02 to play.
Five different Colonials scored during the salvo to start the second frame, including five from redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic).
Saint Francis (Pa.) scored the next eight points of the contest to trim RMU's lead to 60-47, but the Colonials put an end to any comeback attempt by scoring eight straight points of their own, including layups from Wallace, Whitehead and senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point).
Abraham again led a balanced attack offensively as one of four Colonials to score in double figures by hitting four of his six attempts from the field, including a 3-for-4 performance from long range, and three of his four shots from the free-throw line for 14 points.
Jones added 13 points and five assists, Green 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds and three steals and Whitehead 10 points off the bench for the second straight home game.
Saint Francis (Pa.) was led by Devin Sweetney, who scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Sorena Orandi finished with 11 points before sitting out the second half due to injury. The Red Flash shot just 31.3 percent (15-for-48), while the two clubs tied in rebounding with 29 caroms each.
Robert Morris will play its third game in five days Monday, Feb. 8, when it concludes the non-conference portion of its 2009-10 regular-season schedule with an 8:00 p.m. tip against Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center in a game that will be televised live on FSN Pittsburgh.
Notes: RMU's shooting percentage against the Red Flash marks the fourth time in three seasons under head coach Mike Rice the Colonials have shot better than 60 percent from the floor ... For Nwigwe, Green and senior guard Jimmy Langhurst (Willard, Ohio / Willard), the win over Saint Francis (Pa.) marked the 83rd over the trio's four-year career at Robert Morris, a new school record for wins by a class ... The trio also established a new class record for NEC victories with their 51st ... In 19 minutes, senior forward Rob Robinson (Waldorf, Md. / Globe Institute of Technology) finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field while posting three rebounds and a block ... It marks the third straight year RMU has had a winning streak of at least nine games.
