Philadelphia, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened play in The Philly Hoop Group Classic Saturday night by suffering its first loss of the 2011-12 campaign, dropping a 66-60 decision to Penn at the Palestra.
RMU slips to 2-1 overall, while the Quakers improved to 3-1.
The Colonials started the game on fire, hitting four of their first six shots from the field en route to a 10-0 advantage.
Junior center Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) started the surge with a dunk off an offensive rebound, while redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) scored five points and redshirt junior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) drained a three-pointer.
Penn head coach Jerome Allen quickly called timeout, and the Quakers regrouped, trimming their deficit to 12-11 thanks to an 11-2 run.
Redshirt sophomore guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) helped stem the tide by hitting a three-pointer with 11:59 to go in the first half that gave Robert Morris a 15-11 advantage, and another trifecta from Williams allowed the lead to swell to 18-11.
Rob Belcore's three-pointer from the corner helped cap a 9-2 spurt by Penn to tie the game, 20-20, with 8:12 remaining before the break, but again Robert Morris responded with the long ball, as Johnson buried a three-pointer to push the Colonials back in front, 23-20.
Zack Rosen, who finished with 19 points, gave the Quakers their first lead, 25-23, with a three-pointer, but a jumper by Williams, a 3-for-4 showing at the free-throw line by Thompson and a running off-balance jumper by freshman guard Brandon Herman (Chattanooga, Tenn. / Charis Prep) gave the Colonials a 30-25 edge with 2:42 left in the first half.
Penn, however, eventually entered the break with a 31-30 advantage, with the lead coming on a sloppy in-bounds pass by Johnson that was stolen by Belcore and finished with a layup.
The Quakers opened the second half on a 13-2 run to push their lead to double digits for the first time, 44-32, just three and-a-half minutes into the stanza. Tyler Bernardini scored five points, including a three-pointer, while Miles Cartwright and Rosen also connected from beyond the arc.
Penn's biggest lead came with 13:13 to play as another trifecta from Rosen gave the Quakers a 49-34 edge. However, Penn converted just two field goals the rest of the game and was able to hold off the Colonials by scoring each of their final 10 points from the chalk.
Johnson's three-pointer with 1:37 to go helped whittle RMU's deficit to 61-57, but the Colonials would get no closer.
Jones paced Robert Morris for the second straight game, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field. He also added seven assists and three rebounds.
Williams and Johnson each scored 13 points, while Thompson added 10.
Rosen finished 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, including a 5-for-7 performance from international waters, to tie for game-high honors in scoring with Bernardini with 19 points. Cartwright added 12 for the Quakers.
The Colonials continue play in The Philly Hoop Group Classic Tuesday, Nov. 22, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va.
