Boxscore
Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University men's basketball team returned home to the Charles L. Sewall Center Wednesday night and earned a 60-48 victory over in-state rival Saint Francis University for its second straight win.
The Colonials improved to 16-8 overall and 8-3 in the Northeast Conference with the victory, while the Red Flash dipped to 2-20 overall and 2-9 in league play.
RMU jumped out to a 9-2 advantage in the first six and-a-half minutes of the contest thanks to three-pointers from sophomore forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) and junior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College).
SFU responded with a 10-4 surge to pull within 13-12 after a layup from Greg Brown, but the Red Flash were never able to grab a lead throughout the contest.
A defensive first half, the largest lead for the Colonials before the break came at the buzzer, when junior guard Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) hit a three-pointer on a feed from Anderson to give Robert Morris a 25-16 cushion at intermission.
Jones would give RMU its first double-digit advantage, 27-16, in the opening minute of the second stanza with a steal and a fastbreak layup, but an 8-2 spurt by Saint Francis U. trimmed the advantage for the Colonials to 29-24.
Despite the run, Saint Francis was never able to make it a one-possession game.
Ronnie Drinnon helped the Red Flash close to within 42-37 with a pair of free throws at the 6:36 mark of the second half, but Robert Morris scored the next six points of the contest to open up a 48-37 edge.
Redshirt senior forward Russell Johnson (Chester, Pa. / Chester) hit a jumper, Jones converted a pair from the stripe and Anderson added his own jumper to bolster the Colonials.
RMU sealed the game at the free-throw line, converting 12 of its 13 attempts at the chalk in the final 3:55 of action as Jones and Anderson each finished 6-for-6 during that span.
Jones led all scorers with a career-high 20 points, producing a perfect shooting night. He finished 3-for-3 from the field, including 1-for-1 from beyond the arc, and posted a 13-for-13 performance at the free-throw line. Jones established a Sewall Center record for most free throws without a miss by a Robert Morris student-athlete thanks to his performance.
Anderson added 17 points and five rebounds off the bench, while Johnson contributed seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
SFU was led by Umar Shannon, who scored 12 points, while Dominique Major finished with 10 points off the bench.
Thanks to the victory, RMU has now won 11 straight games against its in-state rival, a new school record for consecutive wins against an NEC opponent.
Robert Morris closes out a two-game homestand at the Sewall Center Saturday, Feb. 9, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Wagner.
