Boxscore
Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team extended its winning streak to a season-high six games Saturday night by hanging on for a 76-68 victory over Mount St. Mary's at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
The Colonials improved to 14-7 overall and 6-2 in the NEC with the win, while the Mount fell to 7-12 overall and 2-6 in league play.
RMU jumped out to leads of 6-4 and 14-6 in the first seven minutes of the contest before jumpers from Julian Norfleet and Kristijan Krajina pulled Mount St. Mary's within 14-10.
Junior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College) then scored eight consecutive points and redshirt senior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) scored a layup to cap a 10-0 run as RMU's advantage swelled to 24-10, its largest of the first half.
The Mount was able to close to within 26-19 after a pair of free throws from Josh Castellanos with 4:20 left before the break, but Robert Morris eventually entered halftime with a 33-22 cushion as Johnson scored five points in the final 2:56 of action.
The Colonials kept their lead in double digits the majority of the second half, including 50-34 at the 13:10 mark after a jumper from Anderson.
Robert Morris twice owned 18-point leads, including with 11:54 to play after a layup from junior forward Mike McFadden (Newark, N.J. / Technology) and again with 8:15 remaining after a pair of free throws from junior guard Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep).
Mount St. Mary's didn't go away, however, trimming a 16-point deficit with 2:01 to go down to four, 72-68, with just 24 ticks left on the second-half clock.
Shivaughn Wiggins scored eight points during the Mount's 13-1 run surge, while Julian Norfleet added five points.
RMU sealed the win at the charity stripe, as Anderson converted a pair with 23 seconds to go, and after a missed three-pointer by Rashad Whack of Mount St. Mary's, Johnson added a pair of his own from the chalk to complete the scoring.
Anderson led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 4-for-7 performance from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the free-throw line.
Johnson added 14 points, five rebounds, a pair of assists and three steals for the Colonials.
Wiggins and Norfleet tied for team-high honors for the Mount, as each poured in 21 points on a combined 12-for-19 shooting performance. However, the rest of the Mount St. Mary's squad converted just eight of its 28 attempts from the field.
Robert Morris now takes to the road for a pair of key NEC games in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Colonials will open their swing Thursday, Jan. 31, with a 7:00 p.m. tilt against St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pope Physical Education Center before taking on LIU Brooklyn Saturday, Feb. 2, at the WRAC in a 3:00 p.m. contest that will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
