Emmitsburg, Md. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball erased a 10-point halftime deficit to advance to the semifinals of the 2018 Northeast Conference Tournament with a 60-56 victory over No. 2 seed Mount St. Mary's Wednesday at Knott Arena.
Leading, 58-56, with 12.6 seconds to go, freshman guard
Jon Williams was sent to the free-throw line for the one-and-one opportunity for RMU (16-16). He missed the front end, with Bobby Planutis coming down with the rebound for the Mount.
Mount St. Mary's (18-14) called timeout with 7.1 seconds to play, which was followed by an RMU timeout.
Out of the two breaks, Junior Robinson drove into the lane to get up a shot, but sophomore guard
Dachon Burke came up with a block from behind. Junior guard
Matty McConnell grabbed the rebound and flicked an outlet pass to a streaking Burke, who posted a dunk as time expired to capitalize the victory.
"An incredible basketball game," head coach
Andrew Toole said. "I thought it was an amazing effort by our guys in the second half. I was really proud of them and their ability to not only defend, but to execute offense. In the first two games I'm not sure we showed much offensive prowess, but tonight we gave what the game gave us. Everything was keyed by the defense at the start of the second half."
The first half featured four ties and six lead changes, with Williams giving the Colonials a 22-19 advantage at the 6:29 mark with a three-pointer.
The Mount responded with a 16-0 run to grab a 35-22 lead with 15 seconds left before the break. Greg Alexander sparked the run with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers and a dunk that gave Mount St. Mary's a 30-22 edge. Jonah Antonio would add a three-pointer and Chris Wray came up with a floater.
Williams snapped the run by connecting from beyond the arc as time expired in the first half to pull RMU to within 35-25 at the break.
In the second half, the Colonials held the Mount to just 31.8 percent (7-for-22) shooting from the floor, and overall Mount St. Mary's converted 38.5 percent (20-of-52) of its shots.
McConnell scored seven points in the opening six minutes of the second half to help Robert Morris trim its deficit to 37-34, and junior forward
Seth Rouse would tie the game for the fifth time, 37-37, with a three-pointer with 13:45 to go.
McConnell would also give RMU the lead for good with 9:34 remaining with a triple that gave the Colonials a 44-43 edge. Freshman forward
Chris Coalmon followed with a dunk, and a fastbreak layup with 6:55 to play by freshman forward
Koby Thomas pushed the lead for Robert Morris to 48-43.
Burke came up big late in the contest for the Colonials with a three-pointer at the 3:19 mark of the second half that helped extend RMU's lead to 54-49.
McConnell paced Robert Morris with 18 points and also added nine rebounds, three assists, a pair of blocks and a steal. Burke added 14 points, tied a career high with six assists and also notched three rejections and two steals. Also scoring in double figures was Williams, who finished with 11 points.
Mount St. Mary's was led by Robinson, who scored 15 points but was 6-for-18 shooting from the field. Alexander and Planutis each added 11 for the Mount.
RMU will be making its second consecutive appearance in the semifinals of the NEC Tournament as well as their 21st appearance overall, a league record. The Colonials will travel to Staten Island, N.Y., to take on No. 1 seed Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center for a 2:00 p.m. tip in a game that can be seen live on ESPN3.
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