Photo Credit: Justin Berl
Moon Township, Pa. – Yunus Hopkinson and Tyreek Jewell combined for 46 points to help lift St. Francis Brooklyn to an 82-72 victory over the
Robert Morris University men's basketball team Saturday at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Hopkinson led all scorers in the game with 24 points and drained six three-pointers, while Jewell added 22 points to help the Terriers improve to 13-16 overall on the 2015-16 campaign, including 9-7 in the Northeast Conference. RMU slipped to 9-20 overall and 7-9 in league play.
Trailing, 37-34, entering the second half, St. Francis Brooklyn opened the second half with a 17-6 run to in the first five minutes to grab a 53-43 advantage. Hopkinson and Jewell each connected twice from beyond the arc during the surge.
Jewell would make it 58-48 in favor of the Terriers at the 10:42 mark of the second half thanks to a jumper before Robert Morris scored six straight points to close its deficit to 58-54. Senior guard
Rodney Pryor and junior forward
Billy Giles each scored on layups, while freshman guard
Steven Whitley converted a jumper in the lane.
St. Francis Brooklyn was able to keep RMU at bay, eventually grabbing its biggest lead of the contest, 68-57, with 3:55 remaining on a layup from Jewell.
The Colonials kept within striking distance, using an 11-3 spurt to make it a one-possession contest, 71-68, with 2:37 to play. Robert Morris did most of its damage during the run at the free-throw line, as freshman guard
Isaiah Still went 4-for-4 at the stripe while Pryor hit a pair. Freshman guard
Matty McConnell capped the run by connecting from deep after a turnover by Dagur Jonsson and a steal from Pryor.
On its next possession, St. Francis Brooklyn was forced into a team turnover, and junior guard
Kavon Stewart was sent to the stripe after a foul by Hopkinson with 1:53 to go. Stewart missed the front end of the one-on-one, and the Terriers were able to seal the victory by going 11-for-12 at the free-throw line in the final 1:27.
"Hopkinson has been playing incredibly well as of late," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "He hit some three-pointers tonight. We needed to get him off the line, but we didn't. I'm not sure if we focus on defense enough. It's important we defend regardless of what the score is."
Pryor led the Colonials in his final home game at the Sewall Center with 14 points while also recording five rebounds, two assists and three steals. Giles chipped in 13 points and a pair of blocks, while Still returned to the rotation after missing three games and contributed 12 points on the strength of an 8-for-10 performance at the chalk.
Robert Morris shot 60 percent (15-for-25) from the floor in the first half but was just 11-for-28 (39.3%) shooting after the break, including 1-for-7 from international waters.
RMU will conclude its 2015-16 regular season with a pair of road games, visiting Sacred Heart Thursday, Feb. 25, and Wagner Saturday, Feb. 27.
Stat Of The Night72 – Shooting percentage for junior forward
Billy Giles over his last eight games after going 6-for-7 from the floor against the Terriers.
Notes: Six different players recorded at least one assist for Robert Morris, led by a career-high four dimes from
Steven Whitley … In addition to a career-high four assists, Whitley tied a career high with three steals, grabbed a career-high six rebounds to pace the Colonials and scored nine points … The RMU bench scored 22 points, the highest total during NEC play this season … Robert Morris tied a season high with 13 steals, a total that is a season high against league foes … Thanks to 38 points in the paint, RMU is averaging 39.1 points in the paint over its last seven games … Freshman guard
Jordan Lester scored four points in the span of 21 seconds in the first half, his first points since Nov. 28, 2015, in a victory over Mississippi Valley State.
Â
