Fairfield, Conn. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team continued a three-game road trip Thursday with a 74-60 victory over Sacred Heart at the William H. Pitt Center.
The Colonials (12-8, 6-1 NEC) held the Pioneers to just 20 points in the first half, as SHU didn't get on the board until the 12:53 mark, when Kinnon LaRose hit the back end of a pair of attempts at the free-throw line. LaRose also converted the first field goal of the contest for the Pioneers with 12:22 remaining before the break. At that point, RMU held a 14-3 advantage.
Zach Radz would connect from beyond the arc at the 7:34 mark of the first half to help Sacred Heart (7-13, 2-5 NEC) close to within 19-12, but Robert Morris answered with a triple from freshman forward
Charles Bain to push the lead back to double digits, 22-12.
RMU took control with a 20-1 run that spanned five minutes late in the first half, opening up a 42-15 cushion with 1:43 to go before halftime. Sophomore guard
Dachon Burke ignited the run with a layup and scored six points during the surge. Six different Colonials scored, including four points from redshirt freshman forward
David Cole and a three-point play from freshman forward
Koby Thomas.
Robert Morris eventually entered the break with a 42-20 advantage, and Sacred Heart was never able to whittle its deficit into single digits in the second half.
"I thought in the first half we had really good urgency and good positioning," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "In the second half we took our foot off the pedal and relaxed. We went through the motions a little bit. We had great energy and detail early. Those are the things you want to see. Even when we went to the bench, those guys had the same energy that we need. We just need to do it for a full 40 minutes."
In the second half, Sacred Heart closed to within 51-33 after a three-point play from Radz, but Bain converted a pair of layups that helped keep the Pioneers at bay.
The closest the Pioneers could get came with 1:32 remaining, when Sean Hoehn hit the front end of a pair of attempts at the free-throw line to close their deficit to 70-56.
"We had some breakdowns in the second half," Toole said. "We talked to the veteran guys and explained to them that this is where you have to promote continuing to defend. It's the one sure way that your opponent doesn't come back, and that's continuing to follow the formula on the defensive end."
Burke scored a game-high 19 points for RMU and also added four rebounds and two steals. Junior guard
Matty McConnell added 16 for the Colonials and also notched four boards and three assists. He shot 5-for-10 from the floor, including 4-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Thomas contributed 10 points and six rebounds for Robert Morris, while graduate transfer
Ronnie Gombe provided eight points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Sacred Heart was led by Joseph Lopez, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and notched a double-double courtesy of 10 caroms. Radz scored 17 off the bench for the Pioneers, while Hoehn registered 10 points and seven assists.
RMU concludes its three-game road trip Saturday, Jan. 20, with a 4:00 p.m. tip against Wagner on Staten Island, N.Y., at the Spiro Sports Center.
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