Staten Island, N.Y. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team erased a 14-point deficit in the second half, but a 10-2 run lifted Wagner over the Colonials in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Northeast Conference Tournament, 59-50, Wednesday at the Spiro Sports Center.
RMU concludes its 2015-16 campaign with a record of 10-22, while the Seahawks improved to 21-9 and advance to face No. 6 seed LIU Brooklyn in the semifinals.
Michael Carey gave the Seahawks their biggest lead, 36-22, at the 15:43 mark of the second half after converting a pair at the free-throw line, but Robert Morris chipped away, whittling its deficit to 40-35 with 9:26 remaining thanks to a 13-4 surge.
Senior guard
Rodney Pryor ignited the run with a three-point play and helped RMU's cause with seven points, while junior forward
Billy Giles supplied a dunk and freshman guard
Steven Whitley and junior guard
Kavon Stewart each converted layups.
Aaren Edmead stemmed the tide with a jumper to push the lead for the Seahawks to 42-35, but the Colonials scored the next seven points of the contest to tie the game, 42-42, with 5:50 left. Stewart scored in the paint, Giles hit a pair of free throws and freshman guard
Isaiah Still capped the run with a three-point play courtesy of a foul by Henry Brooks.
Wagner was able to grab the lead back thanks to a pair of free throws from Mike Aaman, and two more at the stripe from Carey gave the Seahawks a 46-42 edge.
Stewart would make it a one-possession contest, 46-44, with four minutes to go thanks to a pair of free throws, but a jumper and layup from Edmead pushed the Wagner advantage to 50-44 at the 2:52 mark of the second half. Dwaun Anderson capped the run with a fastbreak layup that gave the Seahawks a 52-44 cushion.
"I told the guys in the locker room that I was really proud of the fight they showed, especially in the second half," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "You couldn't ask for more effort. Sometimes our guys might not understand this, but all the coaches want is to see you fight and show effort. If you do that, you can hold your head up high, even if you lost. Credit Wagner. They are an incredibly tough defensive team."
A sluggish first half saw Wagner grab a 24-19 edge at halftime. The Seahawks shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field before the break, while the Colonials stood at 23.5 percent (4-for-17).
Corey Henson scored the first five points of the second stanza to give Wagner its first double-digit lead, 29-19, and the Seahawks stretched their advantage to 34-20 after layups from Aaman and Romone Saunders.
The two teams traded free throws before Robert Morris made its final push.
Still garnered game-high honors in scoring with 13 points on the strength of a 9-for-11 performance at the free-throw line. He also grabbed six rebounds. In his final game in an RMU uniform, Pryor finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals before fouling out.
Also reaching double figures for RMU was Stewart, who scored 11 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
Aaman paced Wagner with 12 points and also added eight boards and five blocks, while Henson finished with 10 points. Carey added nine points and a game-high 14 caroms.
