Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened its 2011-12 Northeast Conference schedule Thursday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center with a 66-54 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Colonials improve to 5-2 overall on the 2011-12 campaign, including 1-0 in the NEC, while the Knights dipped to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Briahn Smith opened the game's scoring with a three-pointer at the 18:14 mark to give the Knights an early 3-0 lead, but redshirt sophomore guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) answered with his own three-pointer to tie the score.
After redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) and George Goode traded baskets, RMU used a 16-3 run to open up a 21-8 advantage.
Junior forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) started the surge with a layup off a feed from Jones as five different Colonials scored, including a three-pointer from freshman forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony).
In the final 6:40 of the first half the Colonials were able to stretch their lead to as many as 22 as Williams scored 15 points before halftime, converting on five of his six attempts from beyond the arc.
Fairleigh Dickinson shot just 25 percent (6-for-24) in the opening 20 minutes and suffered 14 turnovers in falling behind, 36-14, at intermission.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Thompson converted a three-point play thanks to a layup and subsequent foul by Kinu Rochford of Fairleigh Dickinson, giving Robert Morris a commanding 41-18 lead.
RMU's biggest advantage of the contest came with 9:02 to play, when Lucky Jones gave the Colonials a 54-30 edge after a layup on an assist from Williams.
Fairleigh Dickinson was able to trim its deficit in the final minutes of the game thanks to Lonnie Hayes, who scored all of his game-high 25 points in the second half. Hayes was 0-for-5 from the field before the break but finished 8-for-24 overall and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. He also added five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Rochford added 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Knights.
Williams took home team-high honors for Robert Morris with 19 points, hitting seven of his 10 shots from the floor while adding five caroms and two steals. Velton Jones added 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and contributed five boards and six assists.
Robert Morris finished 21-for-49 shooting (42.9 percent) from the field, while Fairleigh Dickinson hit just 18 of its 51 attempts (35.3 percent).
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The Colonials continue NEC play and close out a two-game homestand Saturday, Dec. 3, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Monmouth.
Notes: Robert Morris improved to 15-16 (.484) overall in NEC openers ... The Colonials notched their eighth straight victory over Fairleigh Dickinson and have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the two programs ... RMU owns a 34-30 (.531) lead in the all-time series against FDU ... Velton Jones has scored in double figures in 13 straight games dating back to the 2010-11 campaign ... Robert Morris finished with 15 assists against 20 turnovers, while Fairleigh Dickinson recorded just four assists compared to 22 turnovers ... Each team finished with 12 steals ... Lucky Jones led the Colonials in rebounds with six ... Fairleigh Dickinson held a 35-34 edge in rebounding.
