Box Score | Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) | Highlights

Moon Township, PA - Robert Morris rallied from a seven-point, second-half deficit in posting a hard-fought 74-70 victory over Wagner in Northeast Conference (NEC) action at the Sewall Center.

The Colonials improve to 11-10 and a perfect 6-0 in the league while the Seahawks fall to 9-10 and 3-3 in the NEC.

RMU closed out the game by converting six-straight and 7-of-8 from the line in the game's final 28 seconds, the last of which from Aaron Tate bounced off the backboard before finding the bottom of the net with five seconds to play to clinch the win.

Senior Naofall Folahan (Cotonou, Republic of Benin / Wilbraham & Monson Academy (MA)) posted his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for the Green & White. The 6-11 pivot was 5-for-8 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line while also blocking four shots over 30 minutes.

Classmate Latif Rivers (Elizabeth, NJ / Avon Old Farms (CT)) scored 19 points, highlighted by 4-of-7 shooting from long range, and junior Mario Moody (Jersey City, NJ / East Orange Campus) notched 15 points with eight rebounds to round out the double-digit scorers for Wagner.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured six lead changes and three ties as Robert Morris took a scant 33-31 lead into intermission. Despite shooting just 34.3 percent (12-of-35), the Seahawks were able to keep it close because of an 11-6 edge on the glass that led to an 18-10 advantage on points in the paint.

After halftime, Rivers opened the scoring with a three pointer before sophomore Dwaun Anderson (Suttons Bay, MI / Michigan State) forced a turnover and Folahan converted a pair from the line in giving the Green & White a 36-33 lead. Lucky Jones quickly tied the game up at 36-36 with a triple while briefly quelling the Wagner momentum. Folahan answered with a jumper and an old-fashioned three-point play off a steal in reclaiming the lead for the Seahawks at 41-36 with just under 18 minutes remaining.

The lead would grow to seven at 45-38 with 16:10 to play when senior Orlando Parker (Orlando, FL / Orlando Christian Prep) converted a second-chance opportunity while capping a 17-5 spurt that spanned the end of the first and the beginning of the second half.

After the teams traded buckets, Robert Morris scored six-straight points to trim Wagner's lead to just one at 47-46 with 13:29 remaining.

Rivers responded to the Colonial spurt with a pair of triples in pushing the Seahawk lead out to 53-48 with 11:44 remaining. The defending NEC Regular Season Champions answered with three pointers from Charles Oliver and Anthony Myers-Pate before Karvel Anderson capped the 8-0 run with a jumper to give RMU a 56-53 lead at the 9:19 mark.

Folahan briefly stunted the run with a powerful dunk before Karvel Anderson canned a triple and David Appolon converted a layup in extending the lead out to 61-55 with 7:36 to play while capping a game-changing 13-2 run.

With the lead still at six, Robert Morris had a chance to put some breathing room between the teams, but after stealing the ball Jones was rejected at the rim by Moody before Anderson secured possession by throwing the ball off a Colonial player. Moody then scored the next five points with a jumper and a three-point play in drawing the Green & White to within one at 63-62 with 4:53 to play.

After a defensive stand, Wagner had a chance to reclaim the lead but turned the ball over and Myers-Pate made the Seahawks pay with a three pointer to make it a four-point game with 3:46 remaining.

With the deficit still at four with less then a minute to play, Ortiz stole the ball and converted a pair at the line to trim the deficit to 67-65 with 33 seconds remaining before Kavon Stewart then answered with two freebies of his own. Ortiz followed with a jumper Karvel Anderson again made it a two-possession game with a pair from the line. Junior Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC / David W. Butler) broke the monotony with a deep triple while bringing the Green & White to within one at 71-70 with 15 seconds to play.

Stewart then converted another pair of free throws and Ortiz's long triple try on the ensuing possession bounced off the front of the rim before Tate secured possession with five seconds remaining. After missing the first free throw, he hit the second in providing the aforementioned 74-70 final score.

Each team converted on exactly 42.9 percent of its shots with RMU making good on 10-of-17 (.588) from long range and Wagner on 7-of-17 (.412). The Seahawks also won the battle of the boards 41-34, including 14-8 on the offensive end, while posting a +14 margin in the paint (32-18) and a +6 differential (11-5) on second chance points.

Unfortunately, Robert Morris turned it over just nine times, including once in the final 18-plus minutes of the game, in posting a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

Karvel Anderson led four double-figure scorers for the Colonials with 21 points while Stewart added 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals to round out the top performers for RMU.

Ortiz had another outstanding game for the Green & White, scoring nine points with six assists, against just one turnover, four rebounds and two steals.

Wagner returns to action on Thursday, January 30 at LIU Brooklyn with tip time slated for 7:00 pm.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department, @WagnerHoops for news and updates on the men's basketball program and Bashir Mason">@Bashir Mason for news on the second-year coach.