Moon Township, Pa. - The No. 2 seeded Robert Morris University men's basketball team closed the game on an 11-4 run en route to a 71-63 victory over No. 7 seed Central Connecticut State Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

Thanks to the win, the Colonials advance to the semifinals for the third straight season and will host Mount St. Mary's in a 7:00 p.m. tip Sunday night at the Sewall Center.

RMU improved to 21-11 with the win, while the Blue Devils concluded their season with an overall mark of 12-18.

Nursing a one-point lead, 60-59, with 2:59 to go, freshman guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) started the final surge with a three-pointer and scored eight points during the run.

Abraham's three-pointer from beyond the arc with 1:49 to go gave Robert Morris a 66-61 advantage, and after a dunk from senior forward Dallas Green (Indianapolis, Indiana / Northwest) with 1:01 remaining increased RMU's lead to 68-61, Abraham helped seal the victory with a pair from the free-throw line with just 36 ticks left on the clock.

"Our guys found a way to make winning plays at the end of the basketball game, especially on the offensive end," head coach Mike Rice said. "I give a lot of credit to Central Connecticut State. They were a prepared and determined group tonight, and Robby Ptacek was fantastic for them. We need to see if we can find some of the intensity and urgency that we lacked tonight before Sunday."

Robert Morris jumped out to a 9-0 advantage in the first five minutes of action and converted seven of its first 11 shots from the field, but CCSU held the Colonials to just 2-of-11 shooting the rest of the stanza in closing to within four at halftime, 28-24. 

RMU's biggest lead in the first half came with 12:20 remaining before the break on a pair of free throws by Abraham, 17-6, but an 11-1 run by the Blue Devils cut their deficit to one, 18-17. Four different players from Central Connecticut State scored during the spurt, including four points from Ptacek.

"Defensively we played well at times tonight, but Abraham hit a couple of big shots near the end," Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman said. "We just could never get over the hump after a slow start."

Robert Morris never trailed after taking the early lead, though Central Connecticut State closed to within one on three occasions in the first half and six times after intermission.

The Colonials stretched their lead to six early in the second half on layups from senior guard Mezie Nwigwe (Hyattsville, Md. / High Point) and Green, but David Simmons helped pull CCSU within one, 38-37, with 14:24 to play with a jumper.

RMU responded by scoring the next seven points to open up a 45-37 lead as junior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) hit a pair from the free-throw line, redshirt freshman Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) hit a layup in the lane and redshirt freshman guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) hit a three-pointer.

The Blue Devils climbed back thanks to Ptacek, who scored 15 of his career-high 26 points in the second half. His jumper with 2:59 to go pulled Central Connecticut State within one for the ninth and final time before the Colonials ended the game on their flurry.

Ptacek hit nine of his 15 shots from the field and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to take home game-high honors in scoring, while Vince Rosario added 16 points.

The Colonials were led by Abraham, who finished with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the arc, while going 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. Green, Nwigwe, Jones and senior forward Josiah Whitehead (Portsmouth, Va. / Cecil Community College) each added 10 points.

Central Connecticut State shot 47.8 percent (22-for-46) from the field, while RMU converted 46.8 percent (22-for-47) of its shots.