Fairfield, Conn. - Redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) buried a three-pointer as time expired Thursday night to lift the Robert Morris University men's basketball team to its sixth straight win with a 55-53 victory over Sacred Heart at the William H. Pitt Center.
The Colonials improved to 22-8 overall and 13-4 in the Northeast Conference and, coupled with a St. Francis (N.Y.) loss at Monmouth, moved into sole possession of third place in the league standings.
The Pioneers slipped to 13-17 overall and 7-10 in the NEC but clinched the final berth in the 2012 NEC Tournament due to losses by Mount St. Mary's and Saint Francis (Pa.).
Jones came through with his second career buzzer beater after missing a pair of free throws with 18.2 seconds to play and RMU leading, 52-51.
Sacred Heart's Phil Gaetano was sent to the charity stripe with 4.6 seconds remaining after a foul by senior forward Lawrence Bridges (Detroit, Mich. / Columbus State Community College) and calmly sank both of his attempts to give the Pioneers a 53-52 advantage.
Out of a Robert Morris timeout, Jones took the inbounds pass, skirted around a defender just outside of midcourt, raced to the three-point line, pump faked and then buried the game-winning shot in front of the Colonial bench.
The field goal marked RMU's first since the 7:22 mark of the second half, and it was the first field goal by either team in the final 6:55 of play.
Freshman Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) gave the Colonials a 51-48 lead with 1:10 to play after a pair of free throws, but Chris Evans helped trim Sacred Heart's deficit to 51-49 with 38 seconds to go by hitting the front end of a pair of free throws.
RMU had an opportunity to seal the victory with 28 seconds remaining, but sophomore guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) hit just the front end of his two chances at the chalk to give the Colonials a 52-49 lead.
On SHU's next possession Evans drove the lane and was fouled. This time he hit both of his free throws to trim RMU's advantage to 52-51, and immediately Evan Kelley fouled Velton Jones. Jones missed both of his opportunities before coming through with the game-winning three-pointer.
In a contest that featured seven ties and 12 lead changes, Robert Morris held its biggest advantage of the game at the 8:49 mark of the first half, 16-8. However, a 13-0 run by Sacred Heart gave the Pioneers a 21-16 lead with 3:11 remaining before halftime.
The Colonials eventually knotted the game, 25-25, at intermission thanks to Velton Jones, who hit a runner in the lane as time expired.
Neither team led by more than five in the second half, with redshirt junior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) giving RMU a 47-42 edge with 7:23 to go.
Nick Greenbacker would convert Sacred Heart's last field goal with 6:55 to play with a layup, but the final nine points of the game for the Pioneers came at the charity stripe.
Velton Jones led the Colonials with 16 points and added four assists and five steals. He was the only player to score in double figures for Robert Morris.
Lucky Jones and Myers each finished with nine points for RMU.
Shane Gibson paced Sacred Heart with 12 points but was held 10 points below his season average of 22.2 points per contest. He finished 4-for-9 from the field, including 0-for-5 from long range.
Robert Morris concludes its 2011-12 regular season Saturday, Feb. 25, with an 11:00 a.m. contest against Quinnipiac at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden, Conn., in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU.
