Emmitsburg, Md. – Mount St. Mary's snapped the
Robert Morris University men's basketball team's three-game winning streak Thursday with a 70-49 victory at Knott Arena.
The Colonials slipped to 6-16 overall on the 2015-16 campaign with the setback, including 4-5 in the Northeast Conference, while the Mount improved to 10-12 overall and 7-2 in league play.
Mount St. Mary's rode the momentum of a 9-for-19 performance from beyond the arc to the win, as the 47.4 percent success rate marked a season high by an RMU opponent.
Junior Robinson and Will Miller each hit a pair from deep in the first eight minutes as the Mount jumped out to a 21-8 advantage. BK Ashe would hit a three-pointer with 10:31 to go in the first half that gave Mount St. Mary's its biggest lead before the break, 24-8.
Robert Morris weathered the storm and used a 15-6 surge to close to within 30-23 at the 1:18 mark of the first half. The Colonials did most of their damage from the free-throw line, as senior guard
Rodney Pryor went 7-for-8 at the stripe in the first half.
Mount eventually entered halftime with a 32-23 edge and stretched their lead to 43-26 in the first three minutes after intermission with an 11-3 run. Ashe scored four points, while Robinson connected from beyond the arc.
Ashe again hit from deep at the 15:20 mark of the second stanza to give Mount St. Mary's a 48-28 cushion, but the Colonials used a 14-6 run to close to within 54-42 with 9:59 remaining. Pryor, junior forward
Billy Giles and freshman guard
Matty McConnell each scored four points for RMU.
Miller responded with a three-pointer to stem the tide, and his triple with 5:27 to play pushed the Mount's lead to 66-46.
"It's a matter of one team following their formula and the other one not," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "Tonight Mount followed their formula. They got off to a good start hitting the three-point shot, and we didn't have an answer. A disappointing effort."
Robert Morris was led by Pryor, who finished with 11 points and added five rebounds and a block. McConnell chipped in 10 points and five steals, while freshman guard
Isaiah Still finished with 10 points.
The Colonials shot just 39.1 percent (18-for-46) from the field and hit just one of their 14 attempts from beyond the arc, which came courtesy of freshman guard
Anthony Pugh, who connected from deep with 1:58 to play.
Robert Morris concludes a four-game road trip and the month of January Saturday, Jan. 30, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against Saint Francis U. at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pa.
