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Queens, N.Y. – For the second straight year, the
Robert Morris University men's basketball team earned a victory in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) over a No. 1 seed thanks to an 89-78 win over St. John's Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena.
The Colonials improved to 22-13 on the 2013-14 campaign in earning their first victory over a Big East program in school history and will advance to the second round. RMU will travel to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Belmont Friday, March 21, at 9:30 p.m. EST.
Robert Morris never trailed in the contest, jumping out to an early 8-0 advantage thanks to a jumper from sophomore forward
Stephan Hawkins (Gary, Ind. / Bowman Academy) and a pair of three-pointers from senior guard
Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College).
The early spurt forced St. John's (20-13) to call timeout, but the lead swelled to 19-2 for RMU at the 15:17 mark of the first half as Anderson again hit from beyond the arc while junior forward
Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) scored eight straight points.
Anderson and Jones each came up big on the offensive end for the Colonials in the first half, combining for 38 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the floor, including 9-for-12 from deep. Jones scored 20 points before the break by converting five of his seven shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from international waters, while producing a 5-for-6 performance at the free-throw line.
RMU grabbed its biggest lead of the first half, 43-18, when Jones connected from beyond the arc and eventually owned a 49-27 advantage at the break.
"We're a team that has made three's and can make three's in bunches, but it isn't something that we specifically try to do," fourth-year head coach
Andrew Toole said. "We just try to get a good shot for our teammate being that they are open, ready and shoot at a high percentage. We discussed St. John's ability to block shots, and we felt that if we could collapse their defense, we would end up with some good opportunities for great shots."
The Red Storm also connected from beyond the arc in the first half, as eight of their nine field goals came from beyond the three-point line.
Robert Morris kept up its solid shooting in the second half, posting its largest cushion, 68-42, with 9:35 to play thanks to a three-pointer from Anderson. The eighth triple of the game for Anderson with 6:45 remaining gave the Colonials a 74-51 lead, but St. John's had one last charge. The Red Storm reeled off a 15-0 run to close to within 74-66 at the 3:35 mark of the second half as Max Hooper connected twice from downtown and Marco Bourgault hit a three-pointer.
RMU called timeout to stem the tide, and Anderson came through for the Colonials, tying a single-game school record with his ninth three-pointer of the contest with 2:45 left to push the Robert Morris advantage back to double digits, 77-66.
The Colonials sealed the win at the free-throw line, going 12-for-16 at the stripe in the final 1:09. RMU survived a late flurry from Jamal Branch, who buried four three-pointers in a 25-second stretch with under a minute to go to keep hope alive for the Red Storm.
Anderson led the way for RMU with a career-high 38 points, finishing 12-for-20 shooting from the field, including 9-of-15 from deep, while going 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds.
"Many teams after losing or not making the NCAA Tournament come in with their heads down," Anderson said. "They might feel the NIT is not worth their time, but for us this was another opportunity to showcase who we are and how tough our program is."
Jones added 25 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Colonials, while senior guard
Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) scored 11 points and dished out a game-high eight assists.
St. John's was led by Branch, who finished with 22 points. Hooper added 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc, while JaKarr Sampson compiled 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Robert Morris tied a single-game record by connecting for 16 three-pointers, converting an even 50 percent (16-for-32). SJU also drilled 16 three-pointers on 37 attempts (43.2 percent).
