Youngstown, Ohio – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team shot 53.1 percent (26-for-49) from the floor in earning its fourth straight victory Wednesday with an 81-74 win over Youngstown State at the Beeghly Center.
Naz Bohannon helped pull the Penguins (2-6) to within 71-69 with exactly four minutes to play with a pair of free throws, and after a couple of empty possession by both teams, junior guard
Matty McConnell buried a three-pointer from the corner off a feed from freshman guard
Jon Williams to give RMU (4-3) a 74-69 advantage.
Jeremiah Ferguson converted a layup with 56 seconds to play that made it a one-possession game, but the Colonials converted at the free-throw line in the final 42 seconds, going 7-for-8 at the stripe to seal the victory in a game that featured nine ties and 10 lead changes. McConnell sank four of those opportunities.
"I'm proud of our guys, because we came up with enough plays late to win a game, but I'm not sure we deserved to win the game," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "You have to give Youngstown State a ton of credit, because they battled like crazy. I didn't like our energy to start the game, but in the second half it got better. To be able to come out with a road win when maybe you didn't play your best, that's a positive learning experience for our guys."
The first 10 and-a-half minutes of the contest was a frantic affair, as offense ruled an opening that featured four ties. The Colonials had a pair of five-point advantages, only to see Youngstown State claw back using the press. RMU suffered 19 turnovers on the contest, and the Penguins were the first opponent in the first seven games this season to finish with fewer miscues than the Colonials.
Devin Haygood gave YSU a 28-25 lead at the 6:43 mark of the first half with a layup, but Robert Morris answered on its next possession, as sophomore guard
Dachon Burke knocked down a three-pointer to tie it. Williams followed with a fastbreak layup to push the Colonials back in front, 30-28. The two teams eventually entered halftime tied, 34-34.
Robert Morris surged to start the second half, using a 7-0 run to grab a 41-34 lead and forcing Youngstown State to call a timeout. Junior forward
Malik Petteway converted a three-point play and freshman forward
Koby Thomas and Burke each scored layups.
Youngstown State slowly chipped away, using an 8-0 run to tie the game for the final time, 52-52, with 12:14 remaining. The Penguins grabbed their last lead with 9:01 to go courtesy of a layup from Brian Hartfield, but freshman forward
Charles Bain answered with a layup of his own to spark RMU's own 8-0 surge to give the Colonials a 67-60 cushion.
"We came out with really great energy to start the second half, but it has to be consistent and for the full 20 minutes," Toole said.
Burke led all scorers in the game with a career-high 21 points while also adding nine rebounds, two blocks and four steals. He was one of five players to reach double figures in scoring for Robert Morris, as McConnell chipped in 18, Thomas and Williams each scored 11 and Bain 10. For Williams and Bain, it marked their first career-double figure scoring games.
Williams added five assists and a steal, McConnell notched six boards and four dimes and Bain contributed three rebounds, an assist, block and steal.
"
Jon Williams was excellent tonight,
Matty McConnell was excellent tonight," Toole said. "Those guys logged some heavy minutes and played well.
Charles Bain also gave us some really good minutes in the second half."
Robert Morris concludes its eight-game road trip to open its 2017-18 season Saturday, Dec. 2, with a 2:00 p.m. tip against Siena at Times Union Arena in Albany, N.Y.
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