Emmitsburg, Md. (February 28, 2018)--Second-seeded Mount St. Mary's fell to seventh-seeded Robert Morris, 60-56, at Knott Arena on Wednesday night in the Northeast Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.  Trailing by two points with 7.1 seconds remaining, the Mount had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Junior Robinson's shot was blocked from behind, and Robert Morris scored in transition at the buzzer for the four-point victory.

Robert Morris (16-16) held the Mount to two points over the first eight and a half minutes of the second half to rally from a 10-point halftime deficit.  Trailing 35-25 at the break, Robert Morris whittled the deficit to 35-31 on a Dachon Burke free throw with 15:40 remaining.  The Mount's Robinson scored in the paint to make it 37-31, but Robert Morris rattled off the next eight points to take a 39-37 advantage.  Matty McConnell and Seth Rouse made three-pointers while McConnell's lay-up with 11:47 left in the half capped the run.

The Mount responded with a pair of Donald Carey free throws and a Bobby Planutis dunk to regain the lead, 41-39.  The Colonials continued their second-half surge with a 12-4 scoring run to take a 51-45 advantage with 4:55 remaining.  Robinson and Carey connected for back-to-back buckets to make it 51-49, but Burke countered with a clutch three-pointer for a 54-49 lead with 3:19 left.  Planutis hit a pair of free throws for the Mount, but McConnell had a dunk on a drive to restore the lead back to five.  Robinson connected on a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 56-53, but Burke again made a clutch play, this time a drive with 38 seconds left to give Robert Morris a 58-53 lead.

The Mount's Greg Alexander answered with a three-pointer from the left corner with 24.8 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 58-56, and the Mount got the ball back after Robert Morris guard Jon Williams missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 12.6 seconds remaining.  The Mount called timeout with 7.1 seconds on the clock to set up the final play.  Robinson drove to the basket, but his shot was blocked from behind, and Robert Morris was able to secure the upset victory.

Robinson finished with a team-high 15 points for the Mount while Planutis and Alexander added 11 points each.  Carey had nine points and Jonah Antonio six while Chris Wray added four points, five assists and six boards in the loss.  McConnell led Robert Morris with 18 points and nine rebounds while Burke added 14 points and six assists.

The Mount shot just 38.5 percent from the field in the game, including 7-of-22 (.318) in the second half.  Robert Morris shot 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the field in the second half, including 5-of-8 (.625) from three-point range.

Mount St. Mary's (18-14) used a 16-0 to take its biggest lead of the game, 35-22, on a Wray bucket with 15 seconds left in the first half.  Robert Morris was able to cut the deficit to 10 at the break when Williams hit a three-pointer at the first half buzzer.

Robinson, the NEC's leading scorer, finishes the season with 703 points, the second-best single-season total in Mount history.  The NEC Player of the Year finishes his career with 1,872 career points at the Mount.

Robert Morris advances to the NEC semifinals to face top-seeded Wagner on Saturday.