WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Robert Morris held on for a 61-60 victory over Monmouth in Northeast Conference men's basketball action on Thursday night in Boylan Gym. With no timeouts left, and trailing by one with four seconds remaining, Jhamar Youngblood's game-winning attempt fell short, and the Colonials escaped with the road win.
Monmouth, which is now 1-9 at home this season, falls to 5-16 overall, and 2-7 in the conference. RMU improves 16-6 overall and 7-2 in the league.
Robert Morris claimed a 6-4 edge at 17:10 when Tony Lee recorded his second offensive rebound and put-back to open the game. The Colonials pushed the lead to 19-13, with 11:47 remaining, when Lee drained a baseline jump shot, but the Hawks made the score 19-16 at 11:08, when Rickie Crews drained a straight-away three-pointer.
Monmouth pulled square four minutes later, when Nick DelTufo stepped out and drained a three-pointer from the wing, making the score 21-21 with 7:08 remaining.
The Hawks reclaimed the lead with 5:46 showing, as Whitney Coleman's steal led to Youngblood's bank shot, and a 25-23 advantage. After a Crews' blocked shot, Youngblood's baseline drive and layup gave the Hawks a 27-23 lead with 4:55 remaining.
Monmouth opened a seven-point lead, 30-23, with 3:26 showing when Coleman connected on a wing trifecta, but the Colonials pulled within 30-28 with 1:42 left, when Jimmy Langhurst dropped in a fastbreak hoop. Alex Nunner's two free throws with four seconds remaining in the stanza gave the Blue and White a 35-30 at the break.
After RMU pulled within 35-33 out of the break, on a Langhurst three-pointer off an inbounds play, Monmouth pushed the lead to 39-33 with 17:39 left, behind consecutive Youngblood drives.
The Colonials scored nine straight points to reclaim a lead with 14:34 left, as A.J. Jackson's three-point play gave RMU a 42-39 edge. R.J. Rutledge answered with an old-fashioned three-point play of his own to knot the score at 42-42 less than a minute later, and the freshman drained a corner three-pointer to put MU ahead with 11:58 left.
Monmouth capped an 8-0 run over 2:33, when Youngblood dropped in another basket, and claimed a 47-42 lead for the Hawks with 11:13 remaining.
Not to be outdone, the Colonials rattled off the next six points to grab a 48-47 advantage with 9:50 showing. After two Coleman free throws put Monmouth back on top 49-48, Nunner connected on a corner trey to give the Hawks a 52-48 lead with 9:13 remaining in the contest.
RMU answered with a 9-0 spurt over a span of 2:20 to claim a 57-52 lead, and the Colonials made the run 11-1 to push the lead to 59-53 with 4:33 left.
A step-back three-pointer in the corner from Youngblood, as the shot clock wound down, pulled Monmouth within 59-56 with 3:04 remaining, and Crews' dunk off an errant shot made the score 59-58 with 2:02 left.
After A.J. Jackson drained a jumper to reclaim a three-point edge for the Colonials with 1:40 left, Youngblood dropped in two free throws to make it a one-point affair with 53.3 ticks left.
RMU called a timeout with 25 seconds left, but a Langhurst three fell short and Coleman snared the rebound with nine ticks remaining. Lacking a timeout, Youngblood pushed the ball up the floor, but his shot at the horn fell short, and Monmouth dropped the 61-60 decision.
Coleman led the Hawks with 17 points and six rebounds, while Youngblood chipped in 15 points. Crews, who eclipsed his career-high in the first half, ended with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Robert Morris pulled down 22 offensive rebounds, which led to 23 second chance points, was led by Jeremy Chappell's 18 points. Jackson added 15 points.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, February 2, when the Hawks travel to Long Island University, for an NEC contest at 4:00 p.m.
