EMMITSBURG — The first two times Mount St. Mary’s played Robert Morris, both convincing wins, it became evident the Colonials struggled to keep pace with a more aggressive offensive foe.
Wednesday the rivals met in the Northeast Conference tournament quarterfinals, with the Mountaineers playing at home after earning the No. 2 seed. Yet this time, they were the ones in search of points.
And time ran out before they could keep Robert Morris from completing a comeback to win 60-56 at Knott Arena, stunning the home team in its playoff opener.
The Colonials came back from a 13-point first-half deficit and held Mount St. Mary’s to 21 points in the second half.
The same Robert Morris team that gave up a 33-4 run to MSM in their first meeting, a 67-42 victory.
The same Robert Morris team that came to Emmitsburg last Thursday and fell 72-53, while the Mount made nine 3-pointers and gave coach Jamion Christian his 100th career win.
This time, the Colonials (16-16) outscored Mount St. Mary’s 26-10 over the first 15 minutes of the second half and held on.
“We didn’t play our best,” said Christian, flanked by two of his three seniors in Junior Robinson and Chris Wray.
“They did a great job, and I give [Robert Morris] a ton of credit. But I don’t think we played our best either. I think that will be the hardest [thing] is that we didn’t play our best when it mattered the most.”
Still, the Mount gave itself a chance in the final minute.
RMU sophomore guard Dachon Burke converted a layup with 38 seconds to play and the Colonials led 58-53. But Robinson found Greg Alexander, MSM’s other senior, in the left corner for a 3-pointer that trimmed the deficit to 58-56 with 24 ticks remaining.
Jon Williams drew a foul with 12 seconds to go on the ensuing possession, but missed the first of a one-and-one free-throw trip, and MSM’s Bobby Planutis grabbed the rebound.
That set up the Mountaineers’ final possession following a timeout — Robinson got his hands on the ball, found space in the lane, and headed for the hoop. He pulled up from about 10 feet away to take the game-tying shot.
That’s when Burke, who had blocked Robinson twice earlier in the game, came up from behind and swatted the shot. Matty McConnell grabbed the ball and flipped it over his head to Burke, who streaked the other way and ended the game with a dunk.
“Upset,” said Robinson, who finished his final college game with a team-high 15 points. “I don’t get to finish off this year with the rest of my teammates…. It just hurts the most.”
Robert Morris led 22-19 with 6:25 to play in the first half before the Mount got its offense going. The Mountaineers scored 16 consecutive points, including four 3-pointers, and led 35-22 with 15.5 seconds to go.
But Williams beat the buzzer on a 3-pointer of his own, and the long-range bucket seemed to give Robert Morris a little hope.
Enter the second half — Seth Rouse’s 3-pointer with 13:42 to go tied the score at 37-37, and the Colonials erased their 13-point deficit while MSM mustered a mere two points over the first eight-plus minutes.
Robert Morris’ biggest lead was only six, but Mount St. Mary’s cold spell lasted too long to craft a serious comeback until the final minute.
“They executed their plays,” Robinson said about Robert Morris, which got 18 points from McConnell and 14 from Burke. “They switched things up, made it harder for us. We got ourselves into rotations that we hadn’t been in all year. They did a good job.”
Alexander finished with 11 points (three 3-pointers) and Planutis had 11 as well, with seven rebounds.
McConnell scored 16 points in the second half to lead Robert Morris into the NEC semifinals Saturday. For Mount St. Mary’s, which fielded the youngest roster in the NCAA this year, things came to a halt with some force.
“Right now it’s pretty surreal,” said Wray, who had five assists, six rebounds, four points, and two steals. “You never want it to be over, you don’t really think about situations like this until they come about. You never want it to happen … Losing is losing, regardless of the game.
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“I don’t think I’m understanding the severity of it right now, that my college career is over.”
