Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team pushed its winning streak to five games Thursday night and in the process clinched a home game in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Northeast Conference Tournament with a 65-57 victory over Mount St. Mary's at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
RMU upped its overall record to 15-13 with the victory, including 11-6 in the NEC, while the Mount slipped to 10-20 overall and 8-9 in league action.
The Colonials clinched a home game in the first round of the 2011 NEC Tournament thanks to its victory over Mount St. Mary's and Wagner suffering an 84-78 loss at Saint Francis (Pa.).
Robert Morris owned a 53-42 lead with 6:15 to play after a layup from sophomore forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner), but a 12-3 run by the Mountaineers helped make it a one-possession game with 2:42 to go, 56-53 in favor of the Colonials.
Senior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep) helped stem the tide with a jumper to give RMU a 58-53 edge, and after a missed three-pointer by Lamar Trice redshirt sophomore forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) was sent to the charity stripe courtesy of a Sam Atupem foul.Â
Johnson hit the front end of his pair of free throws to push the Robert Morris advantage to 59-53 with 1:40 to go, and 45 seconds later redshirt sophomore guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) converted a pair at the charity stripe to give the Colonials a 61-53 edge.
Mount St. Mary's had one last charge, getting a pair of free throws from Josh Castellanos and a layup from Danny Thompson after a Jones turnover to pull within 61-57 with 34 seconds remaining, but Johnson sealed the win for RMU by hitting four free throws in the final 18 seconds.
Mount St. Mary's jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the first seven minutes of the game after a layup from Jacolby Wells and owned a 16-11 advantage at the 9:49 mark after a jumper from Julian Norfleet, but a 14-0 surge gave the Colonials their largest lead of the first half, 25-16.
Jones was the catalyst during the run, scoring six points, while freshmen guards Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) and Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) each hit three-pointers.
The Mount responded with an 11-2 surge to tie it, 27-27, with 42 seconds left before intermission, but freshman forward Yann Charles (Longueuil, Quebec / Champlain St. Albert) gave RMU a 29-27 edge at the break thanks to a jumper with 32 seconds to play before halftime.
Trice took home game-high honors in scoring with 24 points for Mount St. Mary's, finishing 7-for-20 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 at the free-throw line. He drilled five three-pointers in 12 attempts and was the lone player in double figures scoring for the Mount.
Jones paced RMU with 12 points, scoring 10 in the first half, while Thompson scored all 10 of his points after halftime. Johnson added 10 points and nine rebounds as six different players scored at least seven points for the Colonials.
Robert Morris closes out its 2010-11 regular season Saturday, Feb. 26, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Wagner at the Sewall Center.
