#1 Robert Morris 60, #6 Saint Francis U 57
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Moon Township, PA -- The Robert Morris University men's basketball team opened the second half with a 15-2 run to turn a five-point deficit into an eight-point advantage and held on for a 60-57 victory over No. 6 seed Saint Francis U. Saturday afternoon at the Charles L. Sewall Center in the semifinals of the 2014 Northeast Conference Tournament.

The Colonials improved to 21-12 overall on the 2013-14 campaign thanks to the win and will host No. 4 seed Mount St. Mary's in the 2014 NEC Tournament championship game Tuesday night at the Sewall Center.

The Red Flash, which concludes its 2013-14 season with an overall record of 10-21, grabbed their biggest lead of the contest, 16-6, at the 7:12 mark of the first half when Ronnie Drinnon converted a layup. SFU fell behind early in the contest, 6-2, but used a 14-0 run to grab a double-digit advantage thanks to four three-pointers, including a pair from Dominique Major.

Earl Brown would give the Red Flash a 20-11 lead with 3:46 to play before halftime with a jumper in the paint, but Robert Morris scored the final four points of the stanza to close to within 20-15 at the break.

Attacking the paint in the second half, senior guard Karvel Anderson (Elkhart, Ind. / Glen Oaks Community College) went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the first four and-a-half minutes after intermission, and a jumper from sophomore forward Stephan Hawkins (Gary, Ind. / Bowman Academy) capped the run for the Colonials.

Ben Millaud-Meunier would convert from beyond the arc, and a three-point play by Earl Brown closed Saint Francis U. to within 32-28 with 13:04 remaining, but a 13-5 run gave Robert Morris its biggest advantage of the game, 45-33, with 9:02 to play. Anderson scored six points during the spurt, while junior guard Charles Oliver (Scotch Plains, N.J. / Lakeland Community College).

The cushion remained in double digits for RMU at the 4:46 mark of the second half when junior forward Lucky Jones (Newark, N.J. / St. Anthony) hit a jumper, but the Red Flash responded with a 10-1 run to make it a one-point contest, 55-54, with 2:12 to play. Malik Harmon, the 2014 NEC Rookie of the Year, buried a pair of three-pointers, while Drinnon came up with a steal and a dunk to cap the surge.

Anderson came through for the Colonials, as his jumper with 1:51 to go gave RMU a 57-54 edge before Millaund-Meunier and junior guard David Appolon (Philadelphia, Pa. / Imhotep Charter) traded a pair of free throws.

Brown was fouled with 41.3 seconds left and hit the back end of a pair of attempts at the chalk to pull the Saint Francis to within 59-57, and Appolon was fouled by Millaud-Meunier with 21.1 ticks left on the clock. Appolon hit the back end to give Robert Morris a 60-57 cushion and out of an SFU timeout Harmon's desperation three-pointer as time expired was short.

Anderson led all scorers with 21 points, scoring all of his points in the second half. He finished 4-for-10 shooting from the field and 12-for-12 at the free-throw line and also added four rebounds and two steals. Jones added 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals for RMU.

Brown paced Saint Francis U. with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Millaud-Meunier contributed 15 points off the bench. Drinnon grabbed a game-high nine boards for the Red Flash but finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor.

Robert Morris Head Coach Andrew Toole

Opening Statement …
"I’m really proud of our guys. Obviously it wasn’t the prettiest of games, but I thought the second half was played well by both teams. Your goal this time of year is to do whatever you can to continue your season, and that’s what we did.”

On RMU’s Halftime Deficit …
"When I went into the locker room I told them whether it’s 5-0, 20-15 or 70-65, we’re only down five. As poorly as we played offensively in the first half, defensively we did enough to give ourselves a chance. We made enough baskets to stay in the game and within striking distance."

On Karvel Anderson …
"For him to attack the rim in the second half, it was huge. It really got him going, and for him to see the ball go in the basket was not only good for him but our whole team. Credit Saint Francis, they did a great job defensively the whole game, but Karvel hit some big shots.”

Saint Francis U. Head Coach Rob Krimmel

Opening Statement ...
"We accomplished something we haven’t accomplished in a long time, whether it’s our first NEC Tournament win since 1996 or our first road NEC Tournament victory since 1989, and I told our guys not to hang their heads. They have nothing to be ashamed of. We just have to work hard to keep moving forward next season. It was a great playoff atmosphere, and credit Robert Morris. They battled back.”

On the last play for SFU …
"We were trying to get Malik (Harmon) in the paint and kick it out to one of our shooters. Robert Morris did a great job to defend the pass and knock it away. Malik still had a chance, but it came up short."

Saint Francis U. Junior forward Earl Brown

On RMU’s run in the second half ..
“We were prepared because we knew they had a run in them, and we had some defensive problems. We didn’t give up and came back with our own run, and when Ronnie (Drinnon) got the steal and dunk, we feel like we had it.”

On Getting to the NEC Tournament Semifinals …
“When you get a taste of something, you get even more hungry. We want it all. We have to put our hard hats on and get to the championship game next year.”

#4 Mount St. Mary's 77, #2 Wagner 72
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Staten Island, NY -- Fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's defeated second-seeded Wagner, 77-72, in the Northeast Conference semifinals at the Spiro Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.  Senior Rashad Whack led the Mountaineers with a team-high 21 points.

The Mount used an 8-0 run to close the first half to take a 35-31 lead.  Mount St. Mary's (15-16) led the entire second half, but had to answer several Wagner (19-12) charges, to earn the win.

Sam Prescott converted a tough drive with 1:50 left in the game to lift the Mount to a 71-66 advantage, but Wagner's Kenneth Ortiz answered with a lay-up and a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 71-70 with 1:04 on the clock.

Prescott was then fouled with 46.4 seconds left, and he hit both free throws to push the lead back to three.  Marcus Burton missed a three-pointer, and Whack gathered the rebound and was fouled with 25 seconds left.  Whack, however, missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Wagner had another chance to tie, but Ortiz was off the mark on a three-pointer, and Whack again collected the board.

This time, Whack drilled both free throws to make it 75-70 with 11 seconds on the clock.  Ortiz drove the length of the court to cut the score to 75-72, and the Seahawks fouled Whack on the inbounds.  He again drilled both free throws with six seconds left to seal the win

Whack led the Mount with 21 points while adding five rebounds and a pair of steals.  Julian Norfleet chipped in 16 points and seven assists while Prescott finished with 16 points in the victory.  Gregory Graves had a solid contribution off the bench with 12 points and seven boards.

Ortiz led all scorers with 26 points with Burton adding 13 in the loss.  Whack did a nice job defensively on Wagner leading scorer Latif Rivers, holding him to seven points on 2-of-14 shooting.

Mount St. Mary's shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the game and held a 34-to-33 edge on the boards.  Wagner shot 42.6 percent in the loss.

In the 8-0 run to close the first half, Whack started the streak with a drive to the hoop, converting the bucket as he was fouled.  Whack missed the free throw, but after a Wagner miss, Gregory Graves was fouled on a rebound, and he hit both charity tosses to even the score at 31-31.

The Mountaineers got a stop on the other end, and Bryon Ashe was fouled with 4.6 seconds left in the half.  Ashe hit both free throws, and Prescott stole the inbounds pass, and buried a tough jumper to lift the Mount to the 35-31 advantage at the break.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with 13 lead changes and six ties.  The Mount shot 50.0 percent in the opening half, and held a slim 18-to-17 edge on the boards.  Wagner shot 40.0 percent in the half.  Whack led all scorers with 12 first-half points while Ortiz led Wagner with 10.

Mount St. Mary's advances to the NEC Championship game for the second consecutive season on Tuesday night.  The Mount will play at Robert Morris in a rematch of the 2009 NEC title game.  This will be the Mount's fourth title game appearance over the past seven seasons.

Game Notes:  Wagner holds a 32-19 lead in the all-time series…This was the third meeting between the two teams in the NEC Tournament with the Mount winning twice…The Mount last played Wagner in the NEC Tournament semifinals in 1993, falling 65-48, on the road.

Mount St. Mary’s Head Coach Jamion Christian

Opening Statement:
“Just so proud of our guys, we stay really closely connecte and talk a lot about being on top. At the beginning of the year we challenged ourselves to come back and be back on top. I’m really proud of our guys. They took a lot of punches today.”

On Taking Punches From Wagner:
“We really put a team effort into it and it was no one player who made the win possible.

On The Play Of The Younger Players
“I had a really good feeling he would break out a little bit and be fearless and play much better. Greg was much better with his rebounds and got a lot of them.”

On The Game
“I loved the tip off at the beginning of the game. Wagner was really good mid-court. Ortiz made it hard for the other guys to score even though he was huge for Wagner. But we kept out defenders on him. As long as we got to the free throw line we were fine.”

Mount St. Mary’s Senior Guard Sam Prescott

On taking punches from Wagner:
“We played together. They had some great runs but we just made sure to stay on top of them.”

Mount St. Mary’s Senior Guard Rashad Whack

On Being Team’s Second-Half Confidence
“We’re always confident but we just kept working through.”

Mount St. Mary’s Senior Guard Julian Norfleet

On The Biggest Challenge
“They (Wagner) had those three guys who were really tough to get through but after we figured out how to get around them it got better from there.”

Wagner Head Coach Bashir Mason

Opening Statement:
“I would like to tip my hat off to Mount, they came in and played well. I also want to tip my hat off to my guys, that loss was not due to lack of effort we just came up a little short.”

On What The Mount Did To Mess With The Game Plan
“They had a lot of ball screens and that messed us up, there was always a guy in our face but they had a few uncontested shots.”

On Being Down Four At The Half
“I felt fine with the situation down by four going into half time. In the end I just had to look at it, like it is what it is.”

On Feeling Like The Team Was One Defensive Stop Away
“Yeah it felt like that a lot in the second half. It kept feeling like just one more just one more.

On The Loss
“It’s tough because we’re a real close family and it started out feeling like I was a big brother at the beginning of the season but I’m feeling more like a father now. It’s a bond we’re all going to have for life.”

Wagner Senior Guard Kenneth Ortiz

On Feeling Like The Team Was One Defensive Stop Away:
“The whole game, and every time we caught back up they shot again. It wasn’t exactly difficult but those three guys were big time players and we just had to keep making sure those shots were contested shots. I’m going to remember this ten years down the line even though I’m pretty sure this isn't the end of basketball for me.”

On The Contested Shots:
“I could see it and had a handel on it I felt like we did make some good shots that were contested in the second half. They played the same defense they played the last time they came here.”