Men's Basketball | 11/20/2015 9:04:00 PM

GAME 4
Robert Morris (0-3) @ Air Force (2-1)
AIR FORCE CLASSIC
Sunday, November 22, 2015 • 4:00 p.m. EST
Clune Arena (5,843) • Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: Mountain West Network • GoAirForceFalcons.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball
 
Quick Hits

- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opens a five-game road trip Sunday with its first of four games in the Air Force Classic. The Colonials will take on the host Falcons in a 4:00 p.m. eastern time tip.
 
- RMU dropped its 2015-16 home opener to Bucknell (11/18/15), 81-76, at the Charles L. Sewall Center in its last contest. Senior guard Rodney Pryor led four players in double figures for Robert Morris with 15 points and also added six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
 
-Also reaching double figures in scoring for the Colonials against the Bison were junior guard Kavon Stewart (14), freshman guard Isaiah Still (13) and sophomore guard Andre Frederick (10). Still was making his first collegiate start against Bucknell, while Frederick posted his first career double-figure scoring game.
 
- Despite dropping two of its first three games of the 2015-16 season by a total of six points, Robert Morris has posted a record of 41-22 (.650) in six seasons under head coach Andrew Toole in contests decided by five points or less.
 
- Sophomore forward Elijah Minnie contributed a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds in RMU's 2015-16 season opener @ Penn (11/13/15) and established career highs in assists (4), steals (3) and minutes played (36) against Bucknell (11/18/15).
 
- Robert Morris returns four starters and six letterwinners from a 2014-15 squad that finished with an overall record of 20-15 (.571), including a 12-6 (.667) mark in the Northeast Conference. The Colonials posted their 10th consecutive winning season.
 
- RMU earned its eighth NEC Tournament title and subsequent bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2015 and posted its first victory in the Big Dance since 1983 and second overall in program history with an 81-77 win over North Florida (3/18/15) in the 2015 NCAA First Four. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Colonials fell to eventual national champion Duke (3/20/15), 85-56.
 
- RMU was tabbed second in the 2015 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll, the 10th consecutive year the Colonials have been picked to finish in the top three in the league.
 
- Senior guard Rodney Pryor led RMU in scoring last season at 15.6 points per game and was named the 2015 NEC Tournament MVP. In three games of the NEC Tournament, Pryor averaged 14.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
 
- From the 2007-08 season through 2014-15, Robert Morris compiled an overall record of 183-96 (.656), with the 183 victories ranking ninth among mid-major programs in the eight-year span. The Colonials have won at least 20 games in seven of the last eight years and have also appeared in seven postseason tournaments, including three appearances each in the NCAA Tournament (2009, 2010, 2015) and NIT (2008, 2013, 2014) as well as the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).

 
 
Bucknell Tidbits - RMU slipped to 3-7 (.300) all time against Bucknell, including 2-3 (.400) at the Charles L. Sewall Center ... Robert Morris opponents have averaged 44.7 points in the first half this season while shooting an even 50 percent (45-for-90) from the field, including 45.9 percent (17-for-37) from beyond the arc ... The Colonials, meanwhile, are averaging just 28.0 points in the first half through the first three games this season while converting just 39 percent (32-of-82) of their attempts from the field, including 27.3 percent (9-for-33) from deep ... Bucknell outscored Robert Morris in both points in the paint (40-36) and second-chance points (12-4), while the Colonials held a 24-17 edge in points off turnovers ... RMU finished with a season-high 13 steals as eight different Colonials registered a theft.   
 
Picking Up Where He Left Off - Senior guard Rodney Pryor, who was tabbed to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Team, picked up where he left off from last season in RMU's first three games of the 2015-16 season. Thanks to a team-high 15 points against Bucknell (11/18/15), Pryor enters Sunday's game having reached double figures in scoring in each of his last 13 games dating back to last season. During that stretch, Pryor is averaging 20.3 points per contest while converting an average of 3.08 three-pointers per game.
 
Toe The Line - Early on in the 2015-16 season, junior guard Kavon Stewart has done a good job getting to the free-throw line. Through the first three games, Stewart is 14-for-24 (.583) at the stripe and owns an astounding 44.4 percent (24-of-54) of RMU's attempts as a team at the chalk. Stewart enters Sunday's game @ Air Force having converted 61.3 percent (147-for-240) of his career attempts at the free-throw line.
 
Snow Cone - Sophomore forward Andre Frederick registered the first double-figure scoring game of his career in RMU's home opener against Bucknell (11/18/15) with 10 points, hitting five of his seven shots from the floor. He also added three rebounds and a pair of steals in a career-high 23 minutes. To put that in perspective, Frederick took a total of 19 shots from the field in 12 games against Northeast Conference foes last season and 26 overall on the year. Through the first three games of the year, Frederick is averaging 4.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game, with five of his seven caroms coming on the offensive glass.
 
Smooth Start - Senior guard Rodney Pryor has taken home team-high honors in scoring in each of RMU's first three games of the 2015-16 campaign, averaging an even 20.0 points per contest while shooting 45.8 percent (22-for-48) from the field. Pryor is the first member of the Colonials to open the season with a scoring average of at least 20.0 points per contest through three games since former forward A.J. Jackson (2003-08) in 2006-07. During that season, Jackson averaged 25.0 points in helping the Colonials open the year with a 3-0 record.
 
The Chase for 1,000 - Senior guard Rodney Pryor is RMU's active leading scorer with 606 points as the Colonials open play in the Air Force Classic Sunday against the host Falcons. Pryor has scored a team-high 60 points in three games, a year after leading the Colonials with 546 points last season, and he is looking to become the second player in the last three years to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau in just two seasons at RMU. Former guard Karvel Anderson scored 1,123 points in 69 career games from 2012 to 2014. Pryor needs to average 14.1 points over RMU's final 28 games of the 2015-16 campaign to eclipse 1,000 career points.
 
Be Still My Heart - Freshman guard Isaiah Still earned his first collegiate start against Bucknell (11/18/15) in RMU's home opener and scored a career-high 13 points, converting four of his eight shots from the field, including a 3-for-6 performance from beyond the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds and posted a steal. It marked the second consecutive double-figure scoring outing for Still, who finished with 11 points @ Cincinnati (11/15/15). Still enters RMU's opening contest of the Air Force Classic Sunday having shot 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from the field in his first three collegiate games, including 41.7 percent (5-for-12) from beyond the arc.
 
Block Party - Sophomore forward Elijah Minnie set an RMU single-season school record for blocks in his rookie campaign last year by recording 36 rejections, and he continues to protect the rim early in the 2015-16 season. Minnie finished with three blocked shots in RMU's home opener against Bucknell (11/18/15) and through the first three games of the year has blocked four shots, giving him 40 for his career. Suffice to say, should Minnie stay healthy he has a chance to become to become the program's all-time leader in rejections. The current leader is former forward Magdi Bilall, who finished with 101 blocks from 1987 to 1992.

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