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Nashville, Tenn. – The Robert Morris University men's basketball team saw its run in the 2014 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) come to an end Friday night as Belmont earned an 82-71 victory over the Colonials at the Curb Event Center.

RMU concludes its 2013-14 campaign with an overall record of 22-14, while Bruins improved to 26-9 and advance to face either Clemson or Illinois in the third round of the NIT.

Robert Morris jumped out to an early 11-5 lead in the first two minutes of action against Belmont in much the same fashion as it grabbed the early advantage at St. John's in the first round of the NIT, as senior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College) connected twice from beyond the arc, while junior forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) buried a triple of his own.

Jones would give the Colonials a 13-9 edge at the 15:32 mark of the first half with a driving layup, but the Bruins responded with a 10-0 surge to grab their first lead of the contest, 19-13, with 13:08 left before halftime. Blake Jenkins was the main offensive force for Belmont, scoring six points.

Junior guard Charles Oliver (Scotch Plains, N.J. / Lakeland Community College) stemmed the tide for Robert Morris by hitting a pair of free throws, which began a 12-0 run that helped the Colonials open up a 25-19 advantage with 9:15 left before halftime. Jones and Anderson each connected from deep, while freshman guard Kavon Stewart (Paterson, N.J. / Hudson Catholic) and sophomore forward Stephan Hawkins (Gary, Ind. / Bowman Academy) each hit jumpers.

RMU then went cold offensively, not converting a field goal for almost five minutes, and the Bruins grabbed their first double-digit lead of the contest, 36-25, thanks to a 17-0 spurt that began with eight straight points from J.J. Mann.

Anderson helped the Colonials whittle their deficit to 38-33 at the 2:41 mark of the first half with a three-point play, but a three-pointer that was banked in from Craig Bradshaw allowed Belmont to take a 44-35 edge at halftime.

Twice in the first five minutes of the second half Robert Morris made it a two-possession game, including 49-43 with 15:12 to go after a jumper from Hawkins, but an 11-3 run allowed the Bruins to open up a 61-46 cushion with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Just one time in the final 10 minutes of action could the Colonials get their deficit into single digits, which came with 1:34 to play when Anderson converted a layup to make it 71-62 in favor of the Bruins.

Mann garnered game-high honors in scoring for Belmont with 25 points and also added six rebounds, two assists and three steals. Also scoring in double figures for the Bruins were Drew Windler and Bradshaw, who contributed 18 and 17 points, respectively.

Anderson led the Colonials in his final game in a Robert Morris uniform with 23 points, finishing 7-for-14 shooting from the field, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and going 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. He also added two rebounds and two steals.

Fittingly, the final basket of Anderson's RMU career came with eight seconds left, when he buried a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Jones added 15 points and nine rebounds for RMU, while senior guard Anthony Myers-Pate (Washington, D.C. / Charis Prep) contributed 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in his final game with the Colonials. Sophomore forward Aaron Tate (New Bern, N.C. / Dodge City Community), despite not scoring, produced a game-high 10 rebounds.

Notes

- Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Robert Morris has compiled an overall record of 163-81 (.668), the most wins by a Northeast Conference school in a seven-year span, and has appeared in two NCAA Tournament, three NIT's and one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT)

- In arguably the greatest offensive season in RMU's 38-year Division I history, Anderson established Robert Morris single-season records for points (710), field goals (248), field goals attempted (486), three-point field goals (119), three-point field goals attempted (257), three-point field goals made per game (3.31), double-figure scoring games (33), 20-point scoring games (19) and 30-point scoring games (4) in 2013-14

- Anderson concluded his two-year career as a member of the Colonials with 1,123 points, which ranks 18th all-time at Robert Morris, and thanks to his four three-pointers against Belmont pushed his career total in triples to 201, just the eighth player in school history to hit at least 200 three-pointers in a career

- In the Robert Morris career record book, Anderson established new school records for three-point field goal percentage (.453) and three-point field goals made per game (2.91)

- Anderson is the third member of the Colonials to claim a Northeast Conference scoring title, joining former guards Myron Walker (1990-94) and Gene Nabors (1995-2000) … Anderson averaged 19.7 points per game in 2013-14 to pace the NEC … Walker averaged 19.8 points per contest in 1991-92 to lead the league, while Nabors averaged 19.1 points per game in 1999-2000 to pace the circuit

- Myers-Pate concluded his career ranked sixth all-time at Robert Morris with 449 career assists … He finished with nine more assists than his cousin, former point guard Derek Coleman (2003-07), who ranks seventh all-time in RMU history with 440 dimes … Myers-Pate also compiled career totals of 805 points and 148 steals

- Myers-Pate set a new Robert Morris career record for games played with 137 and was a part of 90 victories over the course of his four-year career at Robert Morris, just one win shy of the school record that was established by former guard Gary Wallace (2007-11) and matched by former guard Velton Jones (2008-13) and former forward Russell Johnson (2008-13)

- Jones enters his final season of eligibility in 2014-15 with career totals of 1,190 points and 662 rebounds … One of just 13 players in school history to eclipse career totals of both 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, he will enter his senior season next year ranked 16th in points and sixth in rebounds

- Barring injury, Jones has a shot at becoming the program's all-time leading rebounder, as he is 90 rebounds shy of eclipsing the career record of 751 that is shared by former forward Anthony Dickens (1985-90) and former guard Tony Lee (2004-08)  

- Jones compiled 246 rebounds in 2013-14, which ranks fourth in the RMU single-season record book … Jones and Tate became the sixth duo in school history to combine for 400 rebounds in a season, totaling 404
 
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