RMU picks up first conference win, beating LIU Brooklyn 70-60

Robert Morris picked up their first win of the conference schedule Thursday night, beating the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds in Brooklyn, 70-60. LIU Brooklyn opened up the game strong, taking a 13-7 lead with 14:59 left in the half. RMU would then comeback to take a 17-15 lead following an Andre Frederick dunk at the 11:05 mark and wouldn't lose their lead until the Blackbirds tied it back up at 27-27 after a Jerome Frink bucket at the 2:05 mark. The game would enter the halftime break tied up at 31-31 following a Kavon Stewart layup with 8 seconds left.

In the second half, the Colonials took a 36-33 lead with 17:49 left in the game following a Kavon Stewart three-pointer and would maintain that lead until an Aakim Saintil three gave LIU Brooklyn a 45-44 lead with 12:06 left to play. Over the next 8 minutes, the lead would flip-flop back and forth with no team going up by more than 4 points. RMU would then start to pull away and would eventually take control of the game over the last three minutes and secure the win.

Elijah Minnie was huge down the stretch for Robert Morris. After Minnie checked in with 4:50 left in the game, he scored 8 of his 13 total points, which included two big threes that kept RMU's lead to two possessions and a highlight dunk over a defender. Minnie finished the night with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from three as well as 8 rebounds.

Rodney Pryor led the Colonials in scoring and recorded a double-double on the night, putting up 21 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 7-of-14 from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Pryor was also big in the second half, scoring 8 points in a two and a half minute span to keep the Colonials in the game.

Kavon Stewart had an interesting game. He had a nice stat line of 9 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals, but he turned the ball over 5 times and shot 3-of-11 from the field and 2-of-7 from the foul line. Stewart had a few turnovers where he just kind of lost the ball and was struggling to get some shots to fall last night but he controlled the pace well and was good on the defensive end. (Stewart's conference play numbers: 17.0 points, 6.3 assists, 4.0 steals per game, 50.0 percent shooting from the field).

Isaiah Still had a solid game, putting up 13 points and 5 rebounds while shooting 4-of-9 from the field. Matty McConnell scored 7 points on 2-of-6 shooting. Billy Giles finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Andre Frederick put up 2 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Steven Whitley had just 1 rebound in 9 minutes of play and Jordan Lester tallied only 2 turnovers in 1 minute of play.

Robert Morris shot 42.9 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from three and 54.2 percent from the foul line as a team. They grabbed 43 total rebounds, had 13 assists to 16 turnovers, 4 blocks and 7 steals.

Jerome Frink led the way for LIU Brooklyn with 20 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 9-of-17 from the field. Frink was a force in the game, making big shots and more or less doing whatever he wanted in the paint. Martin Hermannsson put up 10 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists on 3-of-9 shooting. Trevin Woods also scored 10 points, on 4-of-7, as well as grabbing 4 rebounds.

LIU Brooklyn shot just 36.1 percent from the field, 18.2 percent from three and 66.7 percent from the foul line. They grabbed 39 total rebounds, had 15 assists to 14 turnovers, no blocks and 9 steals.

Robert Morris is back in action Saturday against St. Francis Brooklyn at 4:00 in Brooklyn Heights looking to string together back-to-back wins for the first time this season.