GAME 29
St. Francis Brooklyn (12-16, 8-7 NEC) vs. RMU (9-19, 7-8 NEC)
Saturday, February 20, 2016 • 4:00 p.m.
Charles L. Sewall Center (3,056) • Moon Township, Pa.
 
Radio: ESPN 970 AM & 106.3 FM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (pxp) & Jim Elias (color)
Video: NECFrontRow.com • RMUColonials.com
Twitter: @RMUMBasketball • Instagram: @RMUMBasketball

Quick Hits
 
- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team concludes its final homestand of the 2015-16 campaign Saturday by welcoming St. Francis Brooklyn to the Charles L. Sewall Center for a 4:00 p.m. tip.
 
- The Colonials notched their second consecutive victory with a 74-67 win over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16) in their last contest. The win helped RMU clinch a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the 13th consecutive season. Senior guard Rodney Pryor led Robert Morris by garnering game-high honors in both points (24) and rebounds (9) while recording two steals.
 
- Freshman guard Steven Whitley scored a career-high 16 points in the win over the Blackbirds, junior guard Kavon Stewart finished with 13 points, eight assists and three steals and junior forward Billy Giles contributed 11 points and five boards.
 
- Winners of three of its last four games thanks to a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16), Robert Morris improved to 35-10 (.778) in six seasons under head coach Andrew Toole in the month of February.
 
- Senior guard Rodney Pryor became the 24th member of the RMU 1,000-Point Club by connecting for a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play against LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16). Pryor eclipsed the mark in 60 career games, the second fastest mark in school history. Only all-time leading scorer Myron Walker (1990-94) did it quicker, reaching the threshold in 55 career contests.
 
- Pryor enters Saturday's game against St. Francis Brooklyn having converted each of his last 17 attempts at the free-throw line. In the last four games, Pryor is averaging 19.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest while shooting 44.3 percent (27-for-61) from the field. 
 
- Prior to defeating LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris earned a 72-70 victory @ Fairleigh Dickinson (2/13/16). Senior guard Rodney Pryor notched his seventh double-double of the 2015-16 campaign to pace the Colonials against the Knights with 27 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. He also finished with three assists and three steals in the win.
 
- Junior forward Billy Giles contributed 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field while recording five rebounds and two blocks in the win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Junior guard Kavon Stewart finished with 11 points and six assists.
 
- RMU outrebounded Fairleigh Dickinson, 38-25, to improve to 5-1 (.833) this season and 77-16 (.828) in six seasons under head coach Andrew Toole when outrebounding its opponent. 
 
- Robert Morris concludes the 2015-16 regular season with a two-game road swing, beginning Thursday, Feb. 25, with a 7:00 p.m. tip @ Sacred Heart. The Colonials will also visit Wagner Saturday, Feb. 27.


 
LIU Brooklyn Tidbits - Robert Morris swept the 2015-16 season series from LIU Brooklyn thanks to it 74-67 victory and improved to 29-7 (.806) against the Blackbirds at home ... RMU held an opponent to 71 points or fewer for the fifth straight game ... The Colonials set a season high in points off turnovers, finishing with 27 off 19 miscues by LIU Brooklyn ... After scoring 11, 10, and 10 points off turnovers in their last three games, the Colonials surpassed those marks in each half alone (12 in first half, 15 in second half) ... Junior forward Conrad Stephens finished with four points, five rebounds and a pair of steals, grabbing at least five boards in a game for the third time this season ... Robert Morris shot 76.2 percent (16-for-21) at the free-throw line against the Blackbirds and owns a success rate of 72 percent (59-for-82) in the month of February.
 
Joining The Club - Thanks to hitting a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play that helped secure a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16), senior guard Rodney Pryor became the latest member of the RMU 1,000-Point Club. He finished with a game-high 24 points against the Blackbirds and in the process became the 24th member of the club. Pryor is the second player in the last three years to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau in just two seasons at Robert Morris, joining former guard Karvel Anderson, who scored 1,123 points in 69 career games from 2012 to 2014. Pryor, who owns 1,004 career points, is also the fourth player in school history, and third at the Division I level, to score at least 1,000 points while playing just two years.
 
Vin Diesel - In search of a spark with RMU without the services of freshman guard Isaiah Still due to a violation of athletic department policy, freshman guard Steven Whitley stepped up in a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16) and produced his best game in a Robert Morris uniform. Whitley finished with a career-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and also recorded a block in 23 minutes of action. In his five games as a member of the starting lineup, a stretch in the Colonials have posted a record of 3-2 (.600), Whitley has produced averages of 7.4 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest while shooting 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from the field and 70 percent (7-for-10) at the free-throw line. 
 
Billy The Kid - Since the calendar switched to February, there hasn't been a hotter member of the Colonials than junior forward Billy Giles. Giles contributed 11 points and five rebounds in a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16) and in five games during the month of February is averaging 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 69.2 percent (36-for-52) from the field. Giles ranks third in the Northeast Conference in field goal percentage (.595) entering Saturday's tilt against St. Francis Brooklyn, a success rate that currently ranks fourth in the Robert Morris single-season record book.    
 
Creating & Creating - A key reason Robert Morris has won three of its last four games entering Saturday's tilt against St. Francis Brooklyn has been the steady play of junior point guard Kavon Stewart. In a 74-67 win over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16), Stewart contributed 13 points, eight assists and three steals. In four games in the month of February, Stewart is averaging 10.0 points, 6.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game but more importantly has posted an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.67. He enters Saturday's game ranked second in the Northeast Conference in assists (4.85 per game).
 
Defense Wins Championships - At the heart of the resurgence of the Robert Morris basketball program since 2007-08 is defense. Thanks to a 74-67 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/18/16) that opened RMU's final homestand of the 2015-16 campaign, Robert Morris improved to 145-35 (.806) over the last nine seasons when holding their opponent to under 70 points. In six years under Andrew Toole, the Colonials own a mark of 92-27 (.773) when turning the trick. Overall in the last nine years, RMU has held its opponent to under 70 points 58.6 percent (180-of-307) of the time.

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