Robert Morris opened up conference play Saturday evening, losing to the Sacred Heart Pioneers by a score of 69-65. The game was a rather sloppy one, filled with a ton of turnovers. To start the game, there was a total 5 turnovers (2 RMU, 3 SHU) before there was a single point scored. Once the scoring started, RMU jumped out to an 8-2 lead with 15:48 left in the half. SHU then went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-8 lead at the 14:25 mark. RMU would then retake the lead and hold onto to it until a Cane Broome three with 7:24 left in the half gave the Pioneers a 22-20 lead. The Colonials would again regain the lead and push it to an 8 point lead after a pair of Elijah Minnie free throws with .52 seconds remaining. Broome would end the half with a buzzer beating three to cut the Robert Morris lead to 34-29.

RMU opened up the half strong pushing their lead to game-high 9 points at the 16:56 mark, leading 42-33. SHU would then go on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 43-42 lead. The Colonials would retake the lead, but only for a short time with SHU going ahead, 47-46 with 10:32 left in the game and never looking back. RMU would manage to make it interesting with under a minute left, after a Matty McConnell three brought it within 2 with .11 seconds left in the game. Matej Buovac went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the last minute of the game to close out the game for SHU.

Kavon Stewart led the way for the Colonials, scoring 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-3 and going 7-of-11 from the free throw line. He also 6 assists, 3 steals and just 3 turnovers. Stewart was the best player on the floor last night for the Colonials. He was getting to the rim and the foul line, facilitating the offense and was making his shots. This was easily Kavon's best game this season.

Rodney Pryor put up 16 points, a team leading 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals but also turned the ball over 4 times. He also shot just 5-of-13 from the field and 1-of-5 from three. Isaiah Still had 10 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals and shot 3-of-7 from the field. Elijah Minnie went for 9 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals off the bench for RMU. He also turned the ball over 4 times and shot 3-of-8 from the field and 1-of-4 from three.

Matty McConnell scored 6 points and grabbed 4 rebounds but shot just 2-of-9 from the field. Seven of his shots and both his makes came from beyond the arc. In my opinion, he's relying entirely too much on his outside shot. He needs to try and attack the basket or at least try something of the dribble to keep the defense honest because so far this season, he's been nothing more than a spot-up shooter on offense.

Billy Giles was the only other Colonial to score, putting up 5 points on 2-of-3 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds. Andre Frederick had 2 rebounds and 2 blocks in 16 minutes of action. Steven Whitley had 1 rebound, 1 assist and 3 turnovers in 7 minutes and Jordan Lester played just 2 minutes, turning the ball over once.

As a team, RMU shot 40.0 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from three and 65.5 percent from the foul line. They grabbed 32 rebounds, had 11 assists, 20 turnovers, 3 blocks and 9 steals. In the second half, the Colonials shot just 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from the field and 17.7 percent (3-of-17) from three.

Cane Broome led the way for Sacred Heart, scoring 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting, including 3-of-7 from three along with grabbing 8 rebounds and getting 3 steals. Quincy McKnight put up 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, 4 rebounds and 4 assists but had 6 turnovers as well. Eyimofe Edukugho finished with 10 points on an efficient 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Sacred Heart shot 44.4 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three and 73.9 percent from the foul line as a team. They grabbed 36 rebounds, had 12 assists, 19 turnovers, 2 blocks and 9 steals on the night.

The Colonials will look to get their first conference win when they are back in action Monday night at 7:30 against Wagner at the Sewall Center. Wagner is 7-5 on the season but lost their first conference game to St. Francis (PA), 73-65.