Pittsburgh, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball concluded the home portion of its 2017-18 schedule Saturday by dropping a 65-58 decision to Central Connecticut at the A.J. Palumbo Center on the campus of Duquesne University.
RMU shot just 32 percent (8-for-25) from the field in the second half in letting a seven-point halftime lead slip away as the Blue Devils snapped a six-game slide.
CCSU (13-16, 6-10 NEC) held a pair of early one-point advantages, including 7-6 after a layup from Tyler Batiste. The Colonials responded with a 13-3 surge to grab a 19-10 lead with 7:09 to go before halftime.
Freshman forward
Chris Coalmon pushed Robert Morris back in front, 9-7, after Batiste's layup with a three-pointer from the corner as six different players scored during the run, including a three-pointer from sophomore guard
Dachon Burke.
Burke paced RMU (15-14, 9-7 NEC) in the first half with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 1-for-2 from deep, while going 4-for-8 at the free-throw line, as the Colonials held a 30-23 advantage at the break.
Freshman guard
Jon Williams converted the first field goal after halftime for the Colonials with a three-pointer that increased the lead to 33-25, and Burke matched the biggest advantage for Robert Morris, 36-27, at the 18:35 mark of the second half by converting a pair of free throws.
Central Connecticut rallied with a 5-0 spurt to close to within 36-32 before freshman guard
Leondre Washington connected from deep to extend RMU's lead to 39-32. The Blue Devils kept up the pressure, tying the game, 41-41, with 14:09 to play with a 9-2 run that was capped by a dunk by Mustafa Jones.
Both offenses went cold the next three minutes before Tyler Kohl snapped the stalemate with a layup to push the Blue Devils in front, 43-41. Freshman forward
Koby Thomas answered by driving the lane for a dunk to tie the game.
CCSU grabbed the lead for good with 8:59 remaining when Kohl converted in the low block and was fouled in the act by Burke. He converted the three-point play to give the Blue Devils a 48-45 lead, and a layup by Deion Bute off an offensive rebound stretched the lead for Central Connecticut State to 50-45.
RMU was able to close to within 53-50 with 5:27 left as graduate transfer
Ronnie Gombe went 1-for-2 at the stripe, but Austin Nehls stemmed the tide for the Blue Devils, connecting from beyond the arc to push Central Connecticut to a 56-50 lead. Kohl gave CCSU its biggest lead, 62-54, with another three-point play with 1:44 to go.
"Pretty frustrating game, to say the least," head coach
Andrew Toole. "Our offense was not there in a lot of capacities. Give Central credit, they continued to fight through. They were able to grind harder than we were and were able to come up with the plays late in the game that gave them the win."
Kohl notched a double-double for Central Connecticut with 17 points and 10 rebounds and also added seven assists despite shooting just 5-of-17 from the field, including 0-for-3 from deep. Jones contributed 15 points off the bench, while Bute scored 12.
Burke was the only player in double figures for Robert Morris, eclipsing the 20-point plateau for the fourth consecutive game with a game-high 24 points. He also added four assists and three steals. Thomas finished with nine points and eight caroms for the Colonials.
"You could really tell there was some angst with our guys tonight," Toole said. "For whatever reason, when shots are going down for us, we don't have the proper energy it takes to win a Division I basketball game. Our body language in the second half was telling. Sometimes you need to grind games out. It was tied with 14 minutes to go. Instead of looking at the game like it's scoreless, we just struggled to get our energy back."
RMU concludes its 2017-18 regular season with a two-game road trip, visiting Mount St. Mary's Thursday, Feb. 22, for a 7:00 p.m. tip at Knott Arena in Emmitsburg, Md., before traveling to Loretto, Pa., to face off against Saint Francis U Saturday, Feb. 24.
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