Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped Thursday night with a 62-58 setback to Cleveland State at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The Colonials slipped to 7-3 overall on the 2011-12 campaign, while the Vikings notched their fourth straight win to improve to 9-1.
Cleveland State took its biggest lead of the contest, 53-37, at the 9:43 mark of the second half after Jeremy Montgomery hit a three-pointer, but the Vikings wouldn't convert a field goal the rest of the game.
Over the final 9:11 the Vikings shot 0-for-8 from the field and suffered five turnovers but were able to seal the victory by converting nine of their 10 opportunities at the charity stripe.
RMU used a 19-4 run to trim its deficit to one, 57-56, with just 56 seconds to go after sophomore guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) fed junior forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner) for a dunk.
The Colonials got back in the game thanks to the shooting of redshirt sophomore guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School), who scored nine points during the surge, while redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) and Thompson each scored four points.
Tim Kamczyc, held scoreless the first 39 and-a-half minutes of the game, hit one of his two attempts at the chalk with 34 seconds remaining to help Cleveland State take a 58-56 lead.
On the ensuing possession, Jones' jumper was off the mark, and Kamczyc came down the rebound before being fouled. He converted both free throws with 18 seconds to play to give the Vikings a 60-56 edge.
Jones would score with 4.8 seconds left to pull Robert Morris within two again, 60-58, but Kamczyc sealed the win with another pair at the chalk.
The Colonials led the majority of the first half, taking their biggest advantage at the 10:13 mark when freshman forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) hit the back end of a pair of free throws to give RMU a 14-7 lead.
Cleveland State responded with a 6-0 spurt to close within 14-13, but a pair of three-pointers by Velton Jones kept RMU in front, 20-15, with 4:47 remaining before the break.
The Vikings closed the half on 12-4 run to take a 27-24 lead into intermission as Trevon Harmon scored the final 10 points of the half for Cleveland State.
Harmon kept up his hot shooting in the opening seconds of the second half, hitting a three-pointer to give the Vikings a 30-24 edge. The lead swelled to 36-27 for CSU before a layup from Thompson and a three-pointer by Williams trimmed RMU's deficit to 36-32.
Cleveland State answered the spurt by the Colonials by using a 17-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game.
Williams and Velton Jones tied for team-high honors in scoring with 18 points each, as Williams finished 7-for-10 shooting from the field, including a 4-for-6 performance from beyond the arc.
Harmon scored a game-high 24 points to tie a career high and lead the Vikings, while Montgomery added 10 points for Cleveland State.
Robert Morris now has eight days off before returning to action Saturday, Dec. 17, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Sewall Center.
Notes: Cleveland State has won two straight over Robert Morris to tie the all-time series, 6-6 ... Seven of the 12 meetings between the two programs have been decided by 10 points or less ... RMU shot 47.5 percent (19-for-40) from the field, including 54.5 percent (12-for-22) in the second half ... The Vikings converted 40 percent (16-for-40) of their opportunities from the floor but were 23-of-29 (79.3 percent) at the charity stripe ... The Colonials converted just 13 of their 23 (56.5 percent) tries at the chalk ... Velton Jones has scored in double figures in each of RMU's 10 games this season and 16 straight dating back to last year ... RMU held a 26-25 edge in rebounding ... The two teams combined for 40 turnovers, including 21 by Robert Morris ... Cleveland State and Robert Morris each recorded 10 steals.
