(courtesy Appalachian Sports Information)MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Mountaineers scored their final 12 points from the free throw line over the last three minutes to ice a 65-52 win over defending Northeast Conference champion Robert Morris on Saturday night.
Donald Sims was 6-of-6 from the stripe, with all six attempts coming in the final stretch, and led the team with 17 points. The junior connected on 3-of-6 three-pointers as the Mountaineers made 10-of-23 on the night.
The Colonials (4-6) looked to extend their 13-game home winning streak early on, as the squad jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. The Mountaineers tied it up three times before taking the lead for good on a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 21-14 midway through the first half.
ASU then extended the advantage to as many as 12 points before the intermission and took a 33-24 lead into the locker room. Sims scored 11 points in the frame, including all three of his treys.
The Appalachian (7-4) lead remained steady through the first 10 minutes of the second half, before the Colonials made their move.
A Marcus Wright three-pointer gave the Apps a 48-35 lead with eight minutes to play and then RMU embarked on a 14-2 run to pull within 50-49 with five minutes to play.
Jeremi Booth snapped the streak with his third three-pointer of the night. It turned out to be ASU’s final field goal of the night, however, as the Mountaineers went to the free throw line on seven consecutive possessions and drained 12-of-14 free throws to provide the final margin.
Over the same stretch, Robert Morris made just one of its last nine field goal attempts, en route to a dismal 26.1 percentage from the floor for the night.
The Mountaineers made 44.7 percent of their field goals and made 10-of-23 from downtown.
Josh Hunter and Isaac Butts combined for 21 of ASU’s 44 rebounds while Booth scored 11 points and Kellen Brand added 10. Brand and Wright had four assists each as the Mountaineers dished out 17 on the evening.
Karon Abraham led the Colonials with 15 points while Russell Johnson came off the bench to secure 12 of RMU’s 40 rebounds.
RMU’s last home loss came on December 28, 2008 against Duquesne and stands at 16-2 in the Sewall Center dating back to the beginning of last season. The win was just the second on the road for ASU for the season in five attempts.
The Mountaineers continue the current three-game road swing at Dayton on Monday night at 8 p.m.
