Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened its 2011-12 season with an 83-57 victory over Rider Friday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Redshirt sophomore guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) led four Colonials in double figures with a career-high 28 points, connecting on 11 of his 20 shots from the floor, including a 5-for-11 performance from beyond the arc.
The Broncs took an early 9-8 advantage at the 14:47 mark of the first half, but RMU scored the next 13 points of the contest to open up a 21-9 lead with 9:08 remaining before the break. Five different players scored for Robert Morris during the surge, including five from sophomore guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep).
Novar Gadson snapped a scoreless drought of almost seven minutes for Rider with a three-pointer to pull the Broncs within 21-12, but RMU responded with a 19-4 surge to take its biggest lead of the first half, 40-16.
Williams scored eight points during the run, while freshman guard Brandon Herman (Chattanooga, Tenn. / Charis Prep) hit a pair of three-pointers.
Rider quickly trimmed its deficit to 40-30 in the first three minutes of the second half as Jeff Jones hit a three-pointer, Anthony Myles scored five points and Gadson converted a layup.
Despite the run by the Broncs, Robert Morris quickly pushed its lead back to 46-30 in the next minute, bolstered by five points from Williams.
Williams hit four three-pointers in the second half, the last of which gave the Colonials a 65-41 lead with 7:52 to play. Rider never got its deficit below 20 points the rest of the contest.
In addition to the game-high 28 points from Williams, Myers chipped in with a career-high 14 points, three rebounds, a game-high six assists and a pair of steals. Herman added 11 points, while redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) finished with 10 points.
Myles led Rider with 20 points, while Jones finished with 14.
Robert Morris shot 46.3 percent (31-for-67) from the field in the victory, including 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from long range. Rider hit just 26.3 percent (16-for-45) of its shots and was 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from downtown.
The two teams combined for 38 turnovers, with Rider committing 25. RMU turned the turnovers by the Broncs into 32 points, with Jones leading the Colonials with five thefts.
RMU held a 43-35 edge on the glass, with freshman Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) providing a game-high 13 off the bench for the Colonials.
Robert Morris plays its next five games away from the Charles L. Sewall Center, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. tipoff against Saint Peter's Tuesday, Nov. 15, in Jersey City, N.J.
