Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team halted a two-game skid Friday with a 68-60 victory over Mount St. Mary's at Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials improve to 16-13 overall on the 2019-20 campaign, including 12-4 in the Northeast Conference.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 57-57, with under three minutes to play, junior guard
Jon Williams hit a deep three-pointer from the wing in front of the RMU bench to push the Colonials in front, 60-57. A minute and-a-half later, redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams helped seal the victory with a triple of his own with 1:02 left to give Robert Morris a 64-59 advantage. The Colonials closed the game out at the free-throw line, as sophomore guard
Dante Treacy and senior forward
Yannis Mendy each hit a pair.
QUOTABLE
"It was a late February conference grind," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "Something we really talked about was getting back to our formula and being able to defend. Even though (Mount) came out hot and our defense wasn't too sharp in the beginning, I thought in the second half it was really sharp and really urgent. We got some really good opportunities offensively in the second half."
CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN
Robert Morris fell behind, 12-3, less than five minutes into the contest as Mount St. Mary's (10-18 / 6-9 NEC) was bolstered by Jalen Gibbs, who scored 14 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 4-for-5 performance from beyond the arc. The Colonials never had a lead in the first 20 minutes of action, with the Mount owning its biggest advantage, 26-16, after a three-pointer from Gibbs at the 6:32 mark of the first half.
FINDING THE TOUCH
Redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams led all scorers in the contest with 22 points, his first time eclipsing the 20-point plateau since Jan. 30 as well as the most points he's scored in an NEC game this season. He shot 8-for-14 from the field, including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, while contributing four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Williams pushed his season total in three-pointers to 91, which ranks fourth in the RMU single-season record book. He is just two triples shy of cracking the top 10 all-time for career three-pointers, as well, as he owns 194, two behind former forward Lucky Jones (2011-15).
QUOTABLE
"I'm a senior and guys look at me as a leader on the team, so if I don't play with confidence then they're not going to follow," redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams said. "I put it up with confidence. I went down on the other end and we made a defensive stand, and that was huge."
FORWARD THINKING
Senior forward
Yannis Mendy reached double figures for the third consecutive game as well as the fifth time in February by contributing 13 points and seven rebounds. He shot 4-for-6 from the field and was 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. During the month of February, Mendy is averaging 10.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest while converting 60.9 percent (28-for-46) of his attempts from the floor. Over the last two years, the Colonials own a record of 13-5 (.722) when Mendy scores at least 10 points in a game.
STREAK SNAPPED
Junior forward
AJ Bramah had his streak of consecutive double-figure scoring games snapped at 23 by finishing with seven points in the win over Mount St. Mary's. Bramah posted a game-high 10 rebounds and shot 3-for-6 from the field in the contest while going 1-for-2 at the free-throw line. The 23 consecutive double-figure scoring games ranks as the fourth longest in program history but is the longest on record by a student-athlete from the forward position.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris returns to the road, concluding a stretch of five games in 11 days, with a 3:30 p.m. tip against Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday, Feb. 23, at Stratis Arena in Teaneck, N.J.
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