New Britain, Conn. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team concluded a two-game road trip through New England to open its 2017-18 Northeast Conference slate Sunday with a 71-57 victory over Central Connecticut State at Detrick Gymnasium.
In improving to 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2013-14, the Colonials pushed their overall record back over .500 at 8-7.
RMU held a 36-26 advantage at halftime and took control in the first six and-a-half minutes after the break, pushing its lead to 51-30 with 13:34 to play courtesy of a 15-4 run.
The Colonials received a balanced attack offensively during its flurry to open the second half, as freshman forward
Charles Bain scored six points, graduate transfer
Ronnie Gombe scored five and sophomore guard
Dachon Burke contributed four.
Robert Morris posted arguably its best defensive game of the season against Central Connecticut, holding the Blue Devils to just 33.3 percent (16-for-48) shooting from the floor, including 28.6 percent (4-for-14) from beyond the arc.
"I thought we did an excellent job defensively," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "Our ability to be in gaps was great. We had good activity. There wasn't too many shots in the game were I looked and thought guys were completely wide open. We contested everything."
CCSU was just 6-of-19 from the field in the second half, including 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, and accumulated most of their points after the break at the free-throw line, going 18-for-22 (81.8%) at the chalk in the second 20 minutes of action.
Mustafa Jones opened the scoring in the contest with a jumper and Deion Bute gave CCSU a 4-2 edge after dunk, but the Colonials responded with a 9-2 run to grab an 11-6 lead. The Blue Devils came back to tie it, 11-11, after a layup from Tyler Kohl and a three-pointer by Joe Hugley, but Central Connecticut was unable to jump back in front.
Bain came off the bench and led the Colonials with a career-high 18 points and also added four rebounds in 20 minutes of action. He shot 7-of-10 from the field, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, and was 1-for-2 at the free-throw line.
Burke also reached double figures for RMU with 16 points while adding three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Central Connecticut State was led by Deion Bute, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Mustafa Jones added 12 points and three blocks for the Blue Devils.
RMU returns home for a three-game homestand, beginning Thursday, Jan. 4, with a 7:00 p.m. tip against St. Francis Brooklyn at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University. The Colonials will also host LIU Brooklyn (Jan. 6) and Saint Francis U (Jan. 11) as part of the homestand at PPG Paints Arena.
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