Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened a three-game road trip Thursday on Staten Island, N.Y., with a 67-62 triumph over Wagner at Spiro Sports Center. In picking up their fourth consecutive win, the Colonials improved to 13-11 overall, including 9-2 in the Northeast Conference.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Darion Jordan-Thomas opened the scoring in the second half with a jumper to give the Seahawks a 35-30 advantage, but RMU used a 19-4 run to grab its first double-digit lead of the contest, 49-39, at the 11:40 mark of the second half. Sophomore guard
Jon Williams ignited the surge with a three-pointer and knocked down a pair from downtown during the run, while senior guard
Sayveon McEwen capped it with a triple of his own.
CHARGING BACK
Wagner (5-16 / 2-8 NEC) put together a sprint of its own after falling behind by 10, outscoring the Colonials, 10-2, over the next two and-a-half minutes to trim its deficit 51-49. Chase Freeman made it a one-possession contest with exactly nine minutes left, connecting from beyond the arc. However, the game was scoreless for almost the next three minutes before junior forward
AJ Bramah picked the pocket of Alex Morales, which led to a layup from sophomore guard
Dante Treacy on the other end to push the Robert Morris lead to 53-49.
QUOTABLE
"We knew it was going to be a fight," RMU Pat Gallagher Head Coach
Andrew Toole said. "They were going to be aggressive and attack. In the second half we did such a better job of limiting paint touches and open looks. We came out and set the tone in the second half, and I think that really helped us. Any time you can go on the road and get a victory, that's critical, especially this time of year."
FORCING THE ISSUE
Wagner finished with 26 turnovers in the contest, a season high by an RMU NCAA Division I opponent on the 2019-20 campaign. The Colonials capitalized on those miscues, outscoring the Seahawks, 27-7, in points off turnovers. Alex Morales and Curtis Cobb III scored 15 and 13 points, respectively, to pace Wagner but combined for 16 turnovers. Robert Morris notched 13 steals, led by Bramah with four.
STEAL AND SCORE
The biggest steal of the contest for Bramah came with 2:32 to go, as he forced another Morales turnover and converted a layup to give the Colonials a 61-53 cushion. The bucket gave Bramah 11 points on the contest, stretching his streak for consecutive games in double figures to 19. He shot 4-for-8 from the field and also grabbed three rebounds.
QUOTABLE
"The turnover factor really helped, because it helped us limit their offensive possessions," Toole said. "You could tell they were fired up tonight from the get go, as there was a lot of chatter from their staff during the pregame getting their guys fired up. They got some clean looks in the first half, and where the turnovers were critical was not allowing them to get a shot off. We were much more aggressive in the second half defensively, and that helped turn the tide."
BROTHERLY LOVE
Redshirt senior guard
Josh Williams paced the Colonials in the victory with 13 points and also grabbed four rebound, dished out three assists and notched a steal. Junior guard
Jon Williams added 11 points, two assists and two steals as the duo combined to shoot 8-for-15 (53.3%) from the field, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from deep. Josh and Jon each hit a trio of three-pointers.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris heads to Fairfield, Conn., Saturday, Feb. 8, for a 3:00 p.m. tip against Sacred Heart at the William H. Pitt Center for its second of three consecutive games on the road.
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