Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team received a season-high 37 points from its bench Saturday night en route to a 69-51 victory over Monmouth at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The Colonials improved to 6-2 overall on the 2011-12 campaign, their best straight through eight games in the program's 36-year Division I history, and 2-0 in the Northeast Conference, while the Hawks dipped to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in the NEC.
RMU never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 13-4 lead in the first five and-a-half minutes of the contest.
Redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) opened the scoring with a three-pointer as four different Colonials scored during the opening spurt, including five points from Jones and four from redshirt junior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester).
Freshman forward Keith Armstrong (Raleigh, N.C. / Fishburne Military Academy) gave Robert Morris its first double-digit advantage, 17-6, with a jumper at the 13:19 mark of the first half. The basket was part of a 12-0 run that gave the Colonials their biggest lead before intermission, 25-6, as Armstrong provided six points.
RMU eventually entered halftime with a 43-25 advantage, posting 10 assists against just a pair of turnovers while shooting 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field. The Colonials also took advantage of seven miscues by the Hawks, producing 10 points off the turnovers.
Monmouth opened the second half on a 9-2 spurt to close its deficit to 45-34 as Andrew Nicholas hit a three-pointer while Jesse Steele scored six points.
Junior forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) helped the Colonials stem the tide with a layup off an offensive rebound, and a jumper from freshman forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) and a layup by Armstrong pushed RMU's lead to 51-34.
Armstrong's layup off an offensive rebound with 6:43 to play helped give RMU its biggest advantage of the game, 62-42, as the Colonials outrebounded the Hawks, 22-4, in the second half.
Overall Robert Morris posted a 38-17 edge on the glass, including a 17-7 advantage on the offensive boards. The Colonials outscored Monmouth, 21-8, in second-chance points.
Combined, the Robert Morris bench shot 76.5 percent (13-for-17) from the field while producing 15 rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Lucky Jones led the Colonials the first double-figure scoring game of his career, finishing with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the free-throw line. He also tied Thompson for game-high honors in rebounds with seven.
Armstrong added 11 points and hit all five of his attempts from the field, while sophomore guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) contributed 10 points. Velton Jones also added 11 for Robert Morris.
Monmouth was led by Steele, who finished with 13 points on the strength of an 8-for-10 showing at the charity stripe, while Mike Myers Keitt added 11 points and four assists.
Robert Morris takes to the road and returns to non-conference action Tuesday, Dec. 6, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
