Boxscore
Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team saw its season-high six-game winning streak snapped Thursday night with a 71-61 loss to St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pope P.E. Center.
The Colonials fell to 14-8 overall on the 2012-13 campaign, including 6-3 in the Northeast Conference, while the Terriers improved to 9-11 overall and 5-4 in league play.
SFC jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but the Colonials scored 11 unanswered points to take their first lead of the contest. Sophomore forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) scored four points during the surge, while junior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College) converted a three-pointer.
The Terriers stayed in the game thanks to the free-throw line, as despite converting just two field goals over a six-minute span, SFC finished 7-for-8 at the stripe as part of a 9-5 spurt to tie the game, 17-17, with 9:46 left in the first half.
Junior guard Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) would push RMU back on top, 20-17, with a three-pointer, and a pair of free throws from Jones with 8:50 to play in the first half would give the Colonials a 22-17 edge.
St. Francis Brooklyn, however, closed the half on a 20-8 run to take a 37-30 lead into intermission. Brent Jones was the main offensive force for the Terriers, scoring 10 points.
Robert Morris pulled to within four on a pair of occasions in the first five minutes of the second half, but SFC seemed to have an answer every time the Colonials tried to mount a run.
Akeem Johnson would give the Terriers a 49-40 advantage with 9:46 to play, but a 6-1 spurt that featured a pair of layups from Myers-Pate and a layup from redshirt senior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) helped RMU close to within 50-46 with 6:53 to go.
On defense, the Colonials switched to a 2-3 zone, which stifled the Terriers. Robert Morris was about to post another stand on defense, but Ben Mockford buried a three-pointer with just one second left on the shot clock to give SFC a 53-46 cushion at the 5:42 mark of the second half.
Mockford would connect from deep again less than a minute later to give the Terriers a 56-48 lead, and Anthony White would convert a layup with just 2:50 to play to give St. Francis Brooklyn a 63-54 advantage.
The Terriers sealed the win the charity stripe, going 5-for-6 in the final 42 seconds.
Brent Jones and Jalen Cannon each scored 16 points to lead SFC, while Mockford contributed 14 points. Akeem Johnson added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Terriers.
Anderson and Myers-Pate tied for team-high honors for Robert Morris, as each scored 14 points. Myers-Pate also added six assists against no turnovers, while Russell Johnson finished with eight points, a career-high 15 rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Lucky Jones added 11 points and a pair of rebounds for RMU.
The Colonials conclude their swing through Brooklyn, N.Y., Saturday, Feb. 2, with a 3:00 p.m. tip against LIU Brooklyn at the WRAC in a contest that will be televised live on ESPNU.
