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Robert Morris University Athletics

David Appolon
77
Winner Lafayette LAFAYETT 1-0
50
Robert Morris RMU 0-1
Winner
Lafayette LAFAYETT
1-0
77
Final
50
Robert Morris RMU
0-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Lafayette LAFAYETT 36 41 77
Robert Morris RMU 16 34 50

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Colonials Fall to Leopards in Season Opener, 77-50

Moon Township, Pa. – Dan Trist scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field as Lafayette posted a wire-to-wire victory over the Robert Morris University men's basketball team Friday in the 2014-15 season opener for both programs at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

RMU fell to 20-19 (.513) all-time in season openers with the loss and suffered its worst loss at home since a 94-67 setback to Rider Feb. 19, 1996.

The Leopards built a big lead in the first half behind the offensive prowess of guard Seth Hinrichs, who scored all of his 15 points before the break on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 4-for-5 performance at the free-throw line. A three-pointer from Hinrichs at the 12:58 mark of the first half gave Lafayette its first double-digit lead, 12-3.

The Colonials couldn't seem to get a shot to fall in the first half, beginning the game just 1-for-11 from the field. Senior guard David Appolon converted a fastbreak layup with 11:41 to go before halftime to pull the Colonials to within 14-5, but the Leopards continued stretch out their lead, grabbing their biggest advantage of the first half, 32-8, thanks to a three-point play from Matt Klinewski.

RMU trailed at intermission, 36-16, and Lafayette kept up the pressure to start the second half, scoring the first 10 points of the stanza to open up a 46-16 cushion. Trist scored four points during the salvo, while Joey Ptasinski and Zach Rufer each buried three-pointers.

"Obviously this is not the way we wanted to start our season," head coach Andrew Toole said. "We strayed from our plan both offensively and defensively. We let our offense effect how we played on the defense. It doesn't matter if you play zone defense, man or half court. If you don't have the urgency on defense you're going to get picked apart."

The biggest lead of the contest for Lafayette came with just 3:11 to go, as a pair of free throws from Nick Linder gave the Leopards a 72-32 advantage. Robert Morris closed the game on an 18-5 surge to settle the final at 77-50 as Appolon and sophomore guard Kavon Stewart supplied the late offense for the Colonials.

Lindner scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half on the strength of a 10-for-10 performance at the free-throw line to join Trist and Hinrichs in double figures for the Leopards.

Leading the way for RMU was Stewart, freshman guard Marcquise Reed and senior forward Lucky Jones, as each of the trio supplied 10 points. Appolon added nine points and five rebounds for the Colonials, while Jones tied for team-high honors in rebounding with five caroms of his own. RMU hit just 25 percent (13-for-52) of its shots against the Leopards, including 5-for-22 (22.7%) from beyond the arc.

Robert Morris opens the road portion of its 2014-15 slate in its next contest, opening play in the Battle 4 Atlantis Sunday, Nov. 16, with a 6:00 p.m. tip against North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU.

Stat Of The Night: Freshman forward Elijah Minnie became the sixth player in program history to start his first collegiate game as a true freshman and the first since Yann Charles in 2010.

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