Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team erased an 11-point deficit in the first half en route to grinding out a 50-48 victory over Wagner Saturday and earn a split in a pair of games this week at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Winners of three of their last four, the Colonials (10-17, 6-8 NEC) fell behind, 18-7, at the 7:24 mark of the first half after a three-pointer from Blake Francis.
RMU rallied with a 13-2 run to knot the game, 20-20, as sophomore guard
Isaiah Still scored seven points during the spurt, while redshirt senior forward
Aaron Tate tied the game with a tip-in with 1:31 left before halftime.
The Seahawks (12-12, 8-6 NEC) stemmed the tied and grabbed a 24-20 edge at the break thanks to a jumper from AJ Sumbry and a layup from JoJo Cooper.
In the second half Robert Morris outscored Wagner, 11-4, in the first three and-a-half minutes to jump in front, 31-28. Five different Colonials scored, including a three-pointer from sophomore guard
Matty McConnell. The Seahawks grabbed their final lead of the contest, 32-31, with 14:50 remaining after Corey Henson, who lead all scorers in the contest with 20 points, converted a pair at the free-throw line.
RMU answered on its next possession, as freshman guard
Clive Allen found freshman forward
Braden Burke in the paint on an in-bounds pass and Burke converted the layup to push the Colonials back in front, 33-32.
Robert Morris stretched its lead to 37-34 after freshman guard
Dachon Burke posted a dunk off a McConnell steal, but defense became the name of the game in the final 10 minutes. Neither team scored for almost a five-minute stretch before Sumbry hit a pair at the chalk with 6:21 to go to pull the Seahawks to within 37-36.
Still would answer those free throws by Sumbry with a pair of his own before Henson drilled a three-pointer to tie the game, 39-39, for the fourth time. Wagner called timeout, but out of the break Still nailed a triple from the corner and Allen hit a running jumper in the lane to give the Colonials a 44-39 lead.
Francis would hit a jumper for the Seahawks to make it a one-possession game, 44-41, at the 4:31 mark of the second half before defense again took center stage. Neither team scored again until the clock hit 1:19, when Henson hit a jumper to pull Wagner to within 44-43.
On RMU's next possession senior guard
Kavon Stewart came up big, driving into the lane and converting a layup while being fouled by Mike Aaman of the Seahawks with 52 seconds left. Stewart converted the three-point play to give the Colonials a 47-43 cushion.
The lead swelled to 48-43 with 16.2 seconds remaining after Tate went 1-for-2 at the chalk, but Wagner had one last charge, as Cooper connected from beyond the arc with 10.4 seconds to play to make it 48-46. The two teams traded a pair of free throws to account for the final score, with Stewart going 1-for-2 at the stripe with 2.4 seconds to play. He missed the back end and Sumbry came down with the rebound, but Wagner couldn't get a shot off before time expired.
"I thought we did a really nice job of just figuring it out tonight," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "We did just enough on offense, and we just kept digging in and working on defense. When they got up 11 it seemed like the weight of the world was on our guys. I told them at halftime to just come out and focus on defending each possession. If we'd do that we'd be right there at the end."
Still was the only player in double figures for Robert Morris, finishing with 14 points while adding five rebounds and a pair of assists. Tate and Stewart each contributed eight points, while McConnell and
Dachon Burke both scored six.
The Colonials travel to New England for a pair of games as part of their final road trip of the 2016-17 regular season. RMU will open the two-game swing against Bryant in Smithfield, R.I., Thursday, Feb. 16, with a 7:00 p.m. tip.
Stat Of The Night
.923 – Winning percentage for Robert Morris in seven years under head coach
Andrew Toole when holding its opponent to under 50 points in a game thanks to a record of 12-1
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