Moon Township, Pa. - Redshirt freshman guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) scored 16 of his career-high 26 points in the second half to lift the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to its sixth straight victory Saturday night with a 66-49 win over Wagner at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The victory, coupled with Central Connecticut State's loss at Long Island, helps the Colonials finish in third place in the Northeast Conference. RMU, which owns an overall record of 16-13, including 12-6 in the NEC, will welcome Wagner back to the Sewall Center Thursday, March 3, for a 7:00 p.m. tip in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NEC Tournament.
The Seahawks (13-16, 9-9 NEC) owned leads of 5-0 and 8-5 in the first five minutes of the game, but Robert Morris used a 22-4 run over the next 10 minutes to open up a 27-12 advantage at the 5:39 mark of the first half.
Redshirt sophomore guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) started the surge with a layup and was one of six different Colonials to score, with Williams and redshirt sophomore forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) leading the charge with five points each.
RMU held Wagner to just three field goals over the final 10 minutes of the first half and owned a 34-23 lead at the break thanks to 10 points from Williams.
Tyler Murray would hit a jumper with 12:59 to play that helped the Seahawks close to within 38-30 and cap a 7-2 spurt, but Williams hit a three-pointer and freshman guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) buried a jumper to give Robert Morris a 43-30 advantage.
Wagner would get no closer than nine the rest of the contest, pulling to within 43-34 with 10:44 to go after a jumper by Murray and 48-39 after a layup by Clifton Spiller with seven minutes remaining.
Williams came up with big shots both times the Seahawks got their deficit into single digits, hitting a three-pointer and a jumper, respectively, to get the lead back to double digits.
Williams also gave Robert Morris its biggest lead, as his fifth three-pointer of the game with just 14 seconds to go gave the Colonials a 66-47 edge.
Williams finished 9-for-10 shooting from the field, including 5-for-6 from beyond the arc, and 3-for-4 at the free-throw line to take home game-high honors in scoring with 26 points, while Jones added 14 points and nine assists for RMU.
Murray led Wagner with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Danny Mundweiler chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.
Notes: Williams is the fourth different Colonial to eclipse the 20-point plateau for Robert Morris this season ... The victory clinched RMU's sixth straight winning season, extending a school record for the program ... The win also helped the Colonials break their own school and NEC record for most victories over a five-year span ... Robert Morris owns 106 wins since the beginning of the 2006-07 season, while its 116 against league foes since the beginning of the 2001-02 campaign are the most in the NEC over the last 10 seasons ... Senior guard Gary Wallace (Montclair, N.J. / Seton Hall Prep), honored prior to the game as part of Senior Night festivities, tied the Robert Morris career record for games played with 131 ... Wallace was a part of 58 wins in the Northeast Conference over the last four seasons, a school record ... Robert Morris finished the month of February with a 7-1 record, holding six of its eight opponents to less than 70 points in allowing an average of just 59.4 points per game.
