Little Rock, Ark. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team concluded play in the Grand Canyon Classic Saturday by stretching its winning streak to three with a 78-64 victory over Little Rock at the Jack Stephens Center.
Oliver Black helped the Trojans (0-5) pull to within 35-31 with the first bucket of the second half, but the Colonials (3-3) used a 21-5 run to open up a 56-36 advantage with 14:39 to play. Freshman forward
Koby Thomas, freshman guard
Leondre Washington and junior guard
Matty McConnell each connected from beyond the arc during the surge, with Thomas leading the way with five points.
A day after matching a season high with 10 three-pointers in a 75-53 victory over Norfolk State, RMU set a new season high with 11 triples in the win over Little Rock. To put that in perspective, Robert Morris hit at least 10 three-pointers in a game just once last season, which came in its 31st contest of the year.
The Trojans could never get their deficit to under 10 the rest of the contest, closing to within 13 on four occasions. Each time the Colonials were able to answer, mostly at the free-throw line. RMU knocked down 10 of its 15 attempts (66.7%) at the stripe in the second half and 70 percent (21-for-30) overall.
LINKS: Boxscore (PDF) | Boxscore (HTML) | Updated Stats
The first half featured five ties and five lead changes, with Little Rock taking its last lead, 15-13, after a pair of free throws from Camron Reedus with 8:57 left before halftime.
Robert Morris used a 10-4 spurt to grab its first double-digit advantage, 35-25, before settling for a 35-29 lead at the break. Burke contributed four points, while freshman forward
Charles Bain and McConnell each hit three-pointers.
Burke led four Colonials in double figures in the victory, tying a career high with 17 points while also adding eight rebounds and three assists. He shot 7-for-12 from the field, and of his eight rebounds, four came on the offensive glass.
Thomas and McConnell each scored 15 points, while Washington chipped in 12. Junior forward
Malik Petteway reached double figures in rebounds for the third time this season with 10 caroms, while Thomas grabbed nine boards.
Little Rock held a 36-18 advantage in points in the paint and was led by Andre Jones, who scored 15 points. RMU, however, forced the Trojans into 21 turnovers on the afternoon, turning those miscues into a 35-15 advantage in points off turnovers.
Robert Morris continues an eight-game road swing to open its 2017-18 campaign Wednesday, Nov. 29, with a 7:00 p.m. tip at Youngstown State. The Colonials conclude their road trip Saturday, Dec. 2, with a 2:00 p.m. tip at Siena.
Tournament Notes: RMU finished 2-2 (.500) in the Grand Canyon Classic … Sophomore guard
Dachon Burke paced the Colonials in scoring during the tournament with a 14.5 points per game average while posting averages of 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest … Freshman forward
Koby Thomas averaged 13.8 points and 5.5 caroms in four games of the Grand Canyon Classic and shot 56.4 percent (22-for-39) from the field … Robert Morris held its four opponents in the Grand Canyon Classic to an average of 64.2 points per game.
Follow The Colonials: Twitter | Instagram
