RMU Falls To LIU Brooklyn Twice In 7 Days
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) — LIU Brooklyn defeated Robert Morris University at the Sewall Center 63-62 in a heated matchup that resulted in the Colonials' second loss to the Blackbirds in seven days.
Star forward Lucky Jones was forced to sit out of the 72-65 loss on Feb. 5 due to a concussion and his return was expected to make a difference in the rematch at the Sewall Center. Jones did score 12 points and pulled down six rebounds but it still wasn't enough.
The loss weakened the Colonials record to 12-13 overall and 8-5 in the NEC. LIU Brooklyn improved its record to 11-13 overall and 7-6 in the NEC.
LIU Brooklyn was led by redshirt freshman Nura Zanna with 14 points and 8 rebounds. Zanna is the brother of former Pitt basketball star, Talib Zanna.
RMU led by 10 points at half time shooting 65.4 percent and held LIU Brooklyn to just 35.3 percent FG's but everything changed in the second half.
"I think our defense in the second half let us down and we stopped kind of moving the ball and doing things that gave us success in the first half and had some opportunities to execute down the stretch but weren't able to get that done and LIU made plays and they won the game," head coach Andy Toole said.
LIU went on an 11-2 run with 11:05 in the second half to cut the RMU lead to just three points.
Zanna made a layup with 8:42 left to give LIU its first lead of the game, 52-51. From there it was back and forth for the lead and it only grew more physical.
Zanna was charged with a technical foul with 2:23 left and Lucky Jones made both free throws to give RMU a 62-61 lead. LIU Brooklyn went 5 for 8 from the free throw line in the final 4:20 that kept the Blackbirds in it until the end.
Freshman Marcquise Reed took it full court and attempted a final shot with .7 seconds left on the clock but it was no good.
RMU shot only 25 percent FG's in the second half and LIU Brooklyn improved its FG shooting to 52.6 percent in the final 20 minutes.
"I think we stopped moving the ball, stopped moving ourselves, took contested jump shots and did some things out of character from a shooting perspective that made it difficult," Toole said. "A lot of the plays in the first half we were making for our teammates and a lot of the plays in the second half we were making for ourselves and that doesn't get it done."
Reed led RMU with 14 points, Jones finished with 12 and Aaron Tate contributed 10 points. In addition to Zanna's 14 points for the Blackbirds, Trevin Woods finished with 13 points and Martin Hermannsson scored 12 points.
"A lot of the guys are frustrated and the coaches are frustrated but we are the only ones that can make it better and I hope when we walked out of the locker room guys feel that they want to make it better," Toole said.