Robert Morris shoots better than 50% from floor to defeat FDU

Robert Morris showed up ready Sunday to face a familiar foe.

In a meeting of former longtime Northeast Conference rivals, Josh Corbin scored a career-high 34 points, and the hot-shooting Colonials, playing on a day’s rest, held off Fairleigh Dickinson, 97-86, in the final game of the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic at UPMC Events Center.

The two schools were founding members of the NEC in 1980 before Robert Morris joined the Horizon League in 2020.

Corbin, who missed three games with a hand injury before returning Friday, shot 8 for 16 overall.

He also made 7 of 14 3-point shots for Robert Morris, which was 11 for 28 (39.3%) from behind the arc and 30 for 32 from the free-throw line after connecting on its first 19 attempts.

“It wasn’t long ago that I wasn’t able to dribble the ball very well,” Corbin said. “I thank God I was able to go out there and help my team get a win.”

Overall, Robert Morris (2-4) shot 28 for 55 (50.9%).

“Credit our guys with the way they stepped to the free-throw line and the way they shot the ball,” Robert Morris coach Andy Toole said. “We’ve still got a lot of things to improve on, but it was great to get a win.”

Justice Williams added 21 points and eight rebounds, and TJ Wainwright finished with 20 points for Robert Morris, which dropped a 74-65 fight-marred decision to Jacksonville on Friday in the tournament’s first game.

The Colonials played Sunday’s game without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Markeese Hastings, who was serving a one-game suspension handed down by the Horizon League for his involvement in the bench-clearing incident in the second half of Friday’s game.

Sean Moore paced FDU (4-4) with 21 points. Ansley Almonor added 18 and Jameel Morris scored 10 for the Knights, who were missing three key players from last season’s NCAA Tournament team that shocked No. 1 seed Purdue in the first round.

No matter, Robert Morris failed to protect a huge second-half cushion.

The Colonials were ahead by as many as 20 points before FDU rallied to close within 86-81 on a 3-point shot by Moore with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left.

“They’re hard to wear down,” Toole said. “Those guys on that team are a tough group. They had a great run last year, and they have that winning DNA. They’re not going to quit.”

FDU was playing its second game in as many days. The Knights opened the Urban-Bennett Memorial Classic on Saturday with a 91-90 loss to tournament champion Jacksonville, nearly overcoming a 16-point, second-half deficit.

“It’s really tough to play on consecutive nights,” Toole said. “If you look at my college stats, when I played at Penn, we played Friday and Saturday nights, and my Saturdays weren’t spectacular, I’ll tell you that.”

FDU coach Josh Castleberry, who was elevated to the top spot when Tobin Anderson took the Iona job following last season’s Cinderella run, wasn’t thrilled with the Knights’ knack for falling behind in both tournament games.

“You can’t always applaud the effort for coming back,” he said. “Winners don’t position themselves in that manner. While I do appreciate the fight, the sense of urgency has to be there from the very beginning.”

Robert Morris sealed the outcome by converting 9 of 10 free throws the rest of the way.

FDU has moved on without guards Demetre Roberts (16.6 ppg)f and Grant Singleton (13.9), who were graduate students last season. Senior Joe Munden Jr., who is averaging 10.6 points this season, missed both tournament games with an injury.

Almonor, the Knights’ leading scorer (13.6 ppg), and Moore are among the returning FDU players from a year ago, when the Knights were 21-16 and earned the NEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Robert Morris, quickly built a 48-41 halftime lead into a double-digit margin it held for much of the way. But the game turned into a tense battle in the closing minutes.

“Credit to FDU. They make it hard to close things out because they just keep on coming,” Toole said.

In a game accentuated by a frenetic style, Robert Morris forced 23 FDU turnovers. Early in the second half, the Colonials went on an 8-0 run to take a 58-45 lead and were ahead 84-64 with 7:25 remaining before holding on down the stretch.

Hastings, a transfer from Western Michigan who is averaging 13.8 points and 10.0 rebounds, can return to the Robert Morris lineup on Wednesday, when the Colonials open their Horizon League schedule at defending-champion Northern Kentucky.