After a tightly played first half, the Robert Morris University men's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat host Fairleigh Dickinson, 65-50, on Thursday evening at the Stratis Arena. FDU falls to 4-15 on the season, including a 3-4 mark in the Northeast Conference, while the Colonials improve to 11-8 overall and 6-1 in league action.
Junior guards Terence Grier (Cranford, NJ/St. Thomas More Prep) (Cranford, NJ) and Mike Scott (Philadelphia, PA/Texas Christian) (Philadelphia, PA) led the Knights with 16 points apiece, while senior forward Alvin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow) (Englewood, NJ) registered his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and a season-high 15 rebounds.
The Knights took a 7-4 lead to open the game, as Grier scored the first two buckets on fast breaks and FDU took the lead on a three from Scott.
A jumper from Scott gave the Knights a 12-10 advantage, but Russell Johnson tied it up on the other end.
The first ten minutes of the game saw four ties, with the Knights reclaiming the lead, 15-14, on a free throw from Grier.
After Scott put in a jumper and Grier picked up a defensive rebound on the other end, Mofunanya sank two from the line to give FDU the 19-16 edge with less than eight minutes remaining in the first period.
The Colonials used a 10-1 run for the 29-22 lead, capped by a trey from Johnson. But an old-fashioned three-point play from Mofunanya with 1:24 on the clock cut the gap to four.
After seven ties, Robert Morris pulled ahead to take a 32-25 advantage into the half. Grier led the Knights in the first 20 minutes with 10 points, while Mofunanya pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Robert Morris out-rebounded FDU, 26-16, and held a 20-0 advantage in bench points.
The Colonials scored the first five points out of the half to grab hold of a double-digit lead, but Scott cut gap down with a three from the top of the arc and Mofunanya muscled his way to the basket, 37-30, with 15 minutes left in the game.
Scott netted both free throws with 12:40 on the clock, making it a 41-34 game, but the Colonials staged another run, this time 9-2, to maintain the gap.
The Knights were out-rebounded, 46-32, and the Colonials held a slight edge in shooting percentage (36-34).
"We beat ourselves tonight," said Head Coach Greg Vetrone. "It is no question that the effort was there; the team played hard. But we had a lot of turnovers [19] and tried to do too much offensively."
The Knights are back in action at Stratis Arena on Saturday, January 23 when they host Saint Francis PA at 7:30 p.m., the second part of a doubleheader after the women's teams play at 5:00 p.m.
