Robert Morris men defeat rival St. Francis (Pa.)

Robert Morris met its longest-running rival in men’s basketball Wednesday at UPMC Events Center, and the Colonials for most of the night had their hands full with St. Francis (Pa.).

But, after sleep-walking through the first half and falling behind early in the second, Robert Morris finally came together and ran away with a 77-66 victory, its second win in a row and fourth in the past six games entering a Christmas break.

“It wasn’t always pretty,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said. “But we’re happy and fortunate to get this win. When we come back to practice next week, we’ll continue to talk about the same things we talked about all year long: executing our defensive formula, executing our offense, taking care of the details.

“That’s our path forward.”

The Colonials wound up 5-6 against nonconference opponents, losing four games by single digits, including a one-point decision against Evansville at the Hostilo Hoops Community Classic in Savannah, Ga.

Robert Morris (6-7) resumes its Horizon League schedule Dec. 29 at home against Purdue Fort Wayne after having split a pair of back-to-back contests against league opponents in early December, winning at Wright State and losing at Northern Kentucky.

“The thing I liked about the nonconference schedule is we got better and learned a lot,” Toole said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win in the majority of the games. We’ve got to keep doing that. I would like to have a few more home games.”

Among the other nonconference outcomes were a five-point victory at Central Michigan, an eight-point home loss to Marshall and a nine-point setback at then-No. 21 Dayton.

“It was a schedule that was appropriate for these guys, and they approached it the right way,” Toole said.

In the final nonconference affair, Enoch Cheeks scored 23 points, Robert Morris shot 49.1% and the Colonials rode an extended second-half run to pull away from St. Francis, overcoming Josh Cohen’s third double-double of the season for the Red Flash.

Cohen, eighth in Division I in scoring at 22.1 points per game, led St. Francis with 28 points and 14 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10 junior has scored 40 points in a game twice this season — against Lehigh and Hawaii — and notched 30 on Saturday in a 91-76 loss at No. 22 Miami.

He is one of two St. Francis players to record two 40-point games in a season, joining Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes.

“We don’t want him to get 28, but he gets the ball every other possession and he puts a lot of pressure on you,” Toole said. “He’s done it to everyone they’ve played.”

Robert Morris trailed 53-51 on a Cohen layup with 11 minutes, 53 seconds left before going on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good.

Robert Morris held a 37-34 halftime advantage.

“At the beginning of the game, we didn’t execute our defensive formula to the level we needed to,” Toole said. “They shot 5 for 11 (45.5%) from 3 in the first half. We were finally able to take control of the game when we were able to establish ourselves defensively and midway through the second half string together some stops and get the lead.

“Up until then, we were comfortable trading baskets for a while. That can’t be who we are. That’s a recipe to me for disaster.”

St. Francis (3-10) fell behind while going scoreless for a period of 3:15 as Robert Morris built momentum. The Colonials steadily added on to complete their nonconference schedule on a high note.

Josh Corbin added 15 points for Robert Morris, Kahliel Spear scored 14, Jackson Last chipped in 11 and Matt Mayers contributed 10.

Landon Moore added 16 points and Ronell Giles Jr. contributed 12 for St. Francis, which lost its third game in a row. The Red Flash also resume their schedule Dec. 29 by hosting Central Connecticut State in the Northeast Conference opener.

Robert Morris and St. Francis were regional rivals in the NEC. The Colonials, who joined the Horizon in 2020, improved their edge over the Red Flash in the all-time series to 53-38.

Toole said he would like the series to continue and said St. Francis coach Rob Krimmel gave a similar indication afterwards.

“We have great respect for St. Francis and Rob Krimmel and what they’ve done there,” Toole said. “We know our fans are aware of the rivalry, and their fans are aware of the rivalry.”