GAME 15
Robert Morris (2-13, 0-2 NEC) @ LIU Brooklyn (7-6, 1-1 NEC)
Thursday, January 7, 2016 • 7:00 p.m.
Steinberg Wellness Center (2,500) • Brooklyn, N.Y.

Radio: WPIT AM 730
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • RMUColonials.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball
 
Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opens a two-game road trip through Brooklyn, N.Y., Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip against LIU Brooklyn at the Steinberg Wellness Center.
 
- RMU slipped to 0-2 in the Northeast Conference for the first time since 2013 by dropping a 72-69 decision to Wagner (1/4/16) at the Charles L. Sewall Center in its last contest. Junior guard Kavon Stewart led the Colonials with a career-high 23 points and also added seven assists and a season-high five steals.
 
- Junior forward Billy Giles contributed a career-high 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and posted six rebounds and a block against the Seahawks. Giles is leading the Northeast Conference in field goal percentage at 64 percent (48-for-75).
 
- Also reaching double figures in scoring against Wagner were sophomore forward Elijah Minnie and senior guard Rodney Pryor. Minnie finished with 13 points, seven caroms and two blocks, while Pryor scored 10 points and grabbed six boards.
 
- Of RMU's 13 losses so far in 2015-16, seven have decided by seven points or less and another was lost in overtime (New Mexico State). In addition, the Colonials dropped their first two Northeast Conference games by a total of seven points. Dating back to last season, 14 of RMU's last 19 games against NEC foes have been decided by seven points or less, with Robert Morris owning a record of 6-8 (.429) in those contests.
 
- RMU opened its NEC schedule with a 69-65 loss to Sacred Heart (1/2/16). Junior guard Kavon Stewart paced the Colonials against the Pioneers with 19 points and also added six assists and three steals.
 
- Also reaching double figures in scoring for Robert Morris against Sacred Heart was senior guard Rodney Pryor, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, and freshman guard Isaiah Still, who scored 10 points and added three boards and two steals.
 
- Despite converting just 29.6 percent (103-for-348) of its attempts from beyond the arc through 15 games, RMU is shooting 50.2 percent (253-for-504) in two-point field goal attempts. Senior guard Rodney Pryor has converted 56.4 percent (79-for-140) of his attempts inside the three-point arc.
 
- Sophomore forward Elijah Minnie, who ranks second in the Northeast Conference in blocks per game (1.79) and is the tallest member of the Colonials at 6'9", is shooting 51.4 percent (38-for-74) inside the arc, but 51.6 percent (79-of-153) of his shots from the field have come from beyond the three-point line.
 
- Robert Morris concludes its annual swing through Brooklyn, N.Y., after taking on the Blackbirds Thursday with a 4:00 p.m. tip Saturday, Jan. 9, against St. Francis Brooklyn at the Pope P.E. Center in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. The Colonials will then return to the Charles L. Sewall Center for a pair of league home games before a four-game road trip.


 
Wagner Tidbits - The Seahawks snapped a 10-game losing streak at the Charles L. Sewall Center with their 72-69 win ... Wagner's previous win at the Sewall Center came March 3, 2005, a 69-65 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2005 Northeast Conference Tournament ... RMU was outrebounded, 44-24, including 23-10 on the offensive glass ... The +20 rebounding margin matched a season high by a Robert Morris opponent ... Wagner finished with 20 turnovers, a season high by an RMU opponent ... Over its last six games, Robert Morris owns a +2.20 turnover margin ... Juniors Kavon Stewart and Billy Giles combined for 40 points on 15-of-20 (75 percent) shooting from the field and a 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) performance at the free-throw line.
 
Settling In - Junior point guard Kavon Stewart is in the midst of the best stretch of basketball of not only this season by arguably for his career as the Colonials open a two-game road swing Thursday @ LIU Brooklyn. Stewart paced RMU against Wagner (1/4/16) with a career-high 23 points while also adding seven assists and a season-high five steals. Stewart has reached double figures in five of his last six contests entering Thursday's tilt and over that stretch is averaging 14.0 points, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Stewart is also shooting 46.3 percent (25-for-54) from the field, including 50 percent (5-for-10) from beyond the arc, in his last six contests.
 
Deep Thoughts - Since establishing season highs in both three-point field goals (11) and three-point attempts (32) @ Youngstown State (12/2/15), Robert Morris is shooting just 27.5 percent (42-for-153) from beyond the arc in its last seven games.
 
Diversify - In 2014-15, 44.5 percent (243-of-546) of the scoring production for guard Rodney Pryor came from beyond the three-point line. Through 15 games in 2015-16, just 32.1 percent (99-of-308) of Pryor's production has come from the three-pointer. Conversely, forward Elijah Minnie registered 31.9 percent (69-of-216) of his scoring production from beyond the arc as a freshman in 2014-15. So far during his sophomore campaign, 43.6 percent (75-of-172) of Minnie's production is from deep.
 
The Floor General - The 2015-16 campaign marks junior guard Kavon Stewart's second full season as the starting point guard for Robert Morris. Thanks to a game-high six assists in RMU's 2015-16 Northeast Conference opener against Sacred Heart (1/2/16), Stewart became the 14th player in program history to eclipse 300 career assists. He enters Thursday's game @ LIU Brooklyn with 308 career assists in 79 games, an average of 3.89 per contest, and is 77 dimes short of cracking the top 10 in school history in the category. Stewart is also RMU's active leader in steals with 113 career thefts.          
 
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 in 2015-16. Minnie finished with two blocks vs. Wagner (1/4/16) and in 14 games this year has posted 25 rejections. Minnie ranks second in the Northeast Conference in blocks per game (1.79) and has accumulated 61 rejections in 46 career contests.
 
Rejection - Led by the exploits of sophomore forward Elijah Minnie, Robert Morris opens a two-game road swing Thursday @ LIU Brooklyn ranked second in the Northeast Conference in blocks with an average of 4.40 per game. The Colonials finished with a season-high eight rejections @ Duquesne (12/19/15) and are on pace to finish the 2015-16 regular season with 136 blocks. That would establish a new RMU single-season school record, as the current mark of 121 was set in 2008-09.

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