Emmitsburg, Md. - Sophomore guard Karon Abraham (Paterson, N.J. / Harp Academy) converted four free throws in the final 21 seconds to help the Robert Morris University men's basketball team secure a 51-48 victory over Mount St. Mary's Saturday afternoon at Knott Arena in the finale of a six-game road trip.
RMU finished its road swing with a record of 2-4 but improved to 6-9 overall with the victory, including 2-2 in the Northeast Conference, while the Mount slipped to 4-13 overall and 2-2 in league play.
In a defensive struggle, the Colonials led from the 12:34 mark of the first half until the end. David Golladay opened the scoring with a layup to give Mount St. Mary's an early 2-0 lead, and a three-pointer by Julian Norfleet with 13:15 remaining in the first half gave the Mount its only other advantage of the contest, 10-9.
Redshirt sophomore Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) pushed Robert Morris back in front with a jumper after Norfleet's trifecta, 11-10, which ignited a 9-0 run to give the Colonials their biggest lead of the first half, 18-11. Four different players scored for RMU during the spurt, including a three-pointer from Abraham.
Mount St. Mary's closed to within three, 22-19, after a jumper from Lamar Trice at the 3:43 mark of the first half, but the Colonials closed out the stanza on a 6-2 spurt to take a seven-point advantage at the break, 28-21.
The key basket came when Jones buried a three-pointer with just 41 seconds left before halftime to match the largest lead for Robert Morris before intermission.
Robert Morris stretched its lead to nine on three separate occasions in the first five minutes of the second half, twice on a pair of layups from freshman guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) and again when redshirt freshman guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) connected from long range to give the Colonials a 35-26 lead with 14:56 to play.
The Mount couldn't overcome the deficit, as RMU opened its biggest lead of the contest, 43-33, with 8:39 to go when Abraham converted his third three-pointer of the game.
Sophomore forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) helped keep the advantage in double digits, 45-35, at the 5:08 mark of the second half before Mount St. Mary's rallied one last time.
Six straight free throws for the Mount and a three-pointer by Trice with just 1:40 capped a 9-1 run to trim RMU's lead to 46-44. Jones would convert just one of his two attempts at the free-throw line with 1:17 to play to give Robert Morris a 47-44 edge, but Shawn Atupem hit a layup with 51 seconds left in regulation to make it a one-point contest in favor of the Colonials, 47-46.
Abraham then came through for RMU at the charity stripe, converting a pair with 21 seconds remaining after a foul by Golladay and two more with just 3.1 seconds left after Trice hit a layup and then was forced to foul the leading scorer for Robert Morris.
On an afternoon when the top three scorers for the Colonials struggled to shoot just 20.6 percent (6-for-29) from the field, Abraham led Robert Morris with 13 points.
Myers added a career-high 10 points in making his first start since the opening game of RMU's six-game road trip at Appalachian State, hitting five of his seven shots from the floor while adding two rebounds and a steal.
Redshirt sophomore forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) scored just four points for the Colonials but was magnificent defensively, grabbing 11 rebounds, posting two blocks and recording a steal.
Mount St. Mary's was led by Trice, who scored a game-high 19 points but hit just seven of his 17 shots from the field, including a 3-for-9 performance from long range. Atupem added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Mount.
A season-high six-game road swing complete, Robert Morris returns home to the Charles L. Sewall Center for a four-game homestand beginning Thursday, Jan. 13, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Fairleigh Dickinson.
