Pittsburgh, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team held Rider to 25 percent (8-for-32) shooting in the second half and climbed out of an eight-point deficit to post a 78-75 victory in its 2017-18 home opener Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena.
Tied, 44-44, entering the second half, the Broncs scored the first seven points out of the break to grab a 51-44 advantage. Tyere Marshall converted a layup, Jordan Allen buried a three-pointer and Kealen Washington-Ives scored on a layup for Rider.
Allen would again connect from beyond the arc to give the Broncs a 54-46 lead, and a 1-for-2 performance at the free-throw line by Karamoko Cisse also kept Rider in front by eight, 56-48, with 14:06 remaining.
RMU (5-4) responded with a 20-4 surge that turned an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead, 68-60, with 5:59 to go. Freshman forward
Chris Coalmon, sophomore guard
Dachon Burke and freshman forward
Koby Thomas each connected from beyond the arc to get the rally started, and the Colonials were able to tie it up when Coalmon came up with a steal, went the length of the court for a layup and was fouled by Marshall.
Out of a timeout, Coalmon converted the three-point play to knot the game, 60-60, for the seventh time. Junior guard
Matty McConnell pushed the Colonials back in front, 62-60, with a pair of free throws, and a pair of layups by Thomas sandwiched around a dunk from junior forward
Malik Petteway helped give Robert Morris its biggest advantage.
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Rider began to chip away, closing to within 70-68 courtesy of a pair of free throws from Allen, but Thomas answered on the next possession for the Colonials, grabbing an offensive rebound and sticking a put back. Thomas also provided a dunk and a pair of free throws that gave Robert Morris a 76-70 lead, and Burke sealed the win with a pair of at the charity stripe with two seconds left.
"I'm proud of our guys tonight and their ability to grind out a hard-fought win," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "The first half was very much Rider basketball. We don't hit eight three's in that many weeks let alone halves. Getting into a shootout isn't who we are. We got back to Robert Morris basketball in the second half, controlling the tempo of the game and getting stops."
Thomas led four Colonials in double figures with 20 points and also added five rebounds and an assist. He shot 7-for-11 from the field, including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, and was a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line.
Burke added 15 points, eight rebounds and five dimes, while freshman guard
Jon Williams and McConnell each scored 10. Williams chipped in eight assists, while McConnell added six as the Colonials posted 20 dimes on their 26 field goals.
Dimencio Vaughn scored 13 points off the bench for Rider, while Allen scored 13 points on 15 shots from the field. Marshall contributed 12 points and seven rebounds for the Broncs, while Frederick Scott tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
Winners of five of their last six after starting the year 0-3, the Colonials return to the hardwood by hosting Drexel Sunday, Dec. 10, in a 2:00 p.m. game at PPG Paints Arena.
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