Moon Township, Pa. – Sophomore guard
Kavon Stewart set career highs in points (19) and steals (7) to help lead the
Robert Morris University men's basketball team to a 66-53 victory over No. 3 Bryant Saturday afternoon at the Charles L. Sewall Center in the semifinals of the 2015 Northeast Conference Tournament.
RMU improves to 18-14 overall on the season with the victory and advances to the championship game of the NEC Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years. Bryant ends its season with an overall record of 16-15.
Tied, 48-48, with 8:11 to play after a three-pointer from Dyami Starks of the Bulldogs, the Colonials scored the next 11 points of the game to grab a 59-48 advantage and take control. Stewart stared the surge with a three-point play, while senior forward
Lucky Jones supplied four points. Junior forward
Stephan Bennett and junior guard
Rodney Pryor, meanwhile, each hit jumpers.
Defensively, Robert Morris held Bryant to just 2-of-7 shooting in the final seven and-a-half minutes of the contest while forcing a pair of turnovers.
The Colonials started the game hot, jumping out to a 14-3 lead in the first five and-a-half minutes of by hitting six of their 11 shots from the field. Pryor supplied five points, while freshman guard
Marcquise Reed scored four.
Bryant weathered the run and made it a one-possession game three times, including a 25-22 deficit with 4:19 left before the break after a triple from Starks. RMU eventually held a 30-25 cushion at the break as Stewart scored eight points in the first half to bolster the Colonials.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-5 spurt to grab their first lead, 37-35, with 14:16 to play. Shane McLaughlin scored five points, while Bryant grabbed the advantage thanks to a pair of free throws from Joe O'Shea. That set up the final stretch that featured six ties and a pair of lead changes.
Pryor would tie the game, 37-37, thanks to a fastbreak layup, and over the next five minutes the two teams would trade three-pointers. Starks connected twice for the Bulldogs while Bosko Kostur also connected from deep, while Pryor, Jones and Stewart each hit triples for RMU.
Starks tied the game for the final time, 48-48, before Stewart ignited the final run for Robert Morris by converting the old-fashion three-point play thanks to a layup and foul courtesy of Bryant's Curtis Oakley.
"A terrific game," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "We had great energy to start the game. We knew Bryant was going to stick with their game plan and make a run, and that's exactly what they did. Our energy and intensity on defense picked up late in the second half, and for maybe the first time all season that really fed our offense."
Stewart shot 6-for-11 from the field for the Colonials, including 2-for-3 from deep, and finished 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. He added eight assists while becoming the first student-athlete from RMU to finish with at least seven steals since former guard Tony Lee (2004-08) registered eight thefts against Duquesne Dec. 2, 2006.
Pryor added 12 points, two assists, a block and a steal for Robert Morris, while Jones added 11 points and three steals off the bench.
Bryant was led by Starks, who scored 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including a 5-for-11 performance from beyond the arc. Kostur added 10 points, while McLaughlin finished with six points, eight boards and seven assists.
"It was important for us to advance this far in our third season of Division I eligibility," Bryant head coach Tim O'Shea said. "Home court advantage is a big deal in this conference. We're disappointed we won't be advancing to play on Tuesday. Turnovers hurt us, and we missed free throws on the front end of one-on-ones. Give Robert Morris credit. They've been in these situations before, and their experience showed."
Robert Morris travels to Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., for a 7:00 p.m. tip against No. 1 seed St. Francis Brooklyn Tuesday, March 10, in a game that will be seen live on ESPN2.
Stat Of The Night: 15 – Steals by Robert Morris in its win over Bryant, a season high. The Colonials turned those into 22 points.
Tweet(s) of the Night:
