Toledo, Ohio - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team scored the first nine points of the game and held Toledo to without a field goal for almost 12 minutes from the beginning of the contest en route to a 69-51 victory over the Rockets Saturday afternoon at Savage Arena in the second round of the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
The Colonials, who tied school records for both victories (26) and road wins (14) against Toledo, advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 CIT and will face the winner of Sunday's tilt between Manhattan and Fairfield on the road Wednesday, March 21, in a 7:00 p.m. tip.
Redshirt junior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester), redshirt sophomore guard Coron Williams (Midlothian, Va. / Christchurch School) and freshman forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) each hit three-pointers as RMU jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and never trailed in the contest.
Toledo (19-17) finally cracked the board at the 16:01 mark of the first half, when Curtis Dennis hit a pair of free throws to trim its deficit to 9-2, but Robert Morris grabbed its first double-digit lead of the game, 13-3, when Johnson converted a layup off a feed from Williams.
The advantage for RMU eventually swelled to 18-3 after a pair of free throws from junior forward Lijah Thompson (Philadelphia, Pa. / Monsignor Bonner), and the Rockets didn't convert their first field goal until Richard Wonnell scored on a layup with 8:18 remaining in the first half.
The biggest lead of the first half for the Colonials came at the 6:23 mark, when Williams converted a three-pointer to give Robert Morris a 23-7 advantage.
RMU eventually entered intermission with a 30-14 lead as Williams scored 11 points before halftime, hitting three of his five attempts from long range and going 2-for-3 at the free-throw line.
Toledo opened the second half with a 12-4 run to close its deficit to 34-26 as Rian Pearson scored six points and Matt Smith converted a fastbreak layup.
However, the Colonials were able to keep the Rockets at bay thanks to the long ball, as Williams again converted from long range, while redshirt junior guard Velton Jones (Philadelphia, Pa. / Northeast Catholic) hit a pair of three-pointers to give Robert Morris a 43-28 lead with 15:11 to play.
The Rockets were able to trim their deficit to 12 points on four different occasions, but RMU took control with a 15-3 surge to open up its largest lead of the game, 63-39, with 4:02 to go.
Six different Colonials scored during the run, including five points from Johnson and a trio of free throws from sophomore forward Mike McFadden (Newark, N.J. / Technology).
Williams led four players in double figures scoring for Robert Morris with 17 points and also added three rebounds and a pair of assists. Lucky Jones added 13 points, a team-high six rebounds and a pair of steals off the bench, while Velton Jones and Johnson each finished with 10 points.
Toledo was led by Pearson, who finished with 14 points but was held to 5-of-15 shooting from the floor.
Robert Morris shot an even 50 percent (23-for-46) on the afternoon while holding the Rockets to a conversion rate of just 35.3 percent (18-for-51).
Notes: RMU also won 26 games overall and 14 road tilts during the 2007-08 campaign ... The Colonials held a 35-26 edge in rebounding and posted 20 assists on their 23 field goals ... Velton Jones and sophomore guard Anthony Myers (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) each finished with five assists ... All 14 active Colonials saw action against the Rockets ... Williams and Velton Jones have combined for 145 three-pointers so far this season, the second highest total by a Robert Morris tandem in school history ... RMU has won 28 straight games when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
