Pryor's big night leads Robert Morris over Fairleigh Dickinson

Moon Township, PA – Junior guard Rodney Pryor established career highs in points (28) and rebounds (11) en route to his first collegiate double-double Thursday night to help lead Robert Morris to an 87-65 win over Fairleigh Dickinson at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

RMU posted its fourth consecutive victory and improved to 11-10 overall on the 2014-15 campaign, including 7-2 in the Northeast Conference, while the Knights slipped to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the conference.

Mustafaa Jones connected from beyond the arc just 64 seconds into the contest to give FDU an early 3-2 lead, but a 19-5 run that featured six points from freshman guard Marcquise Reed and five points from junior Aaron Tate helped the Colonials open up a 21-8 advantage at the 12:15 mark of the first half.

Fairleigh Dickinson weathered the surge by Robert Morris and scored nine consecutive points, including five from Marques Townes, to close to within 21-17. Tate stemmed the tide for RMU with a dunk off a feed from Reed to give the Colonials a 23-17 advantage and eventually entered halftime with a 41-26 cushion.

The Knights opened the second half by scoring the first seven points to trim their deficit to 41-35 as Darian Anderson provided six points for FDU.

Senior guard David Appolon scored RMU's first points after the break with a layup at the 16:22 mark of the second half, which ignited an 18-5 run. Six different players scored for the Colonials during the surge, including five points from Pryor and four from Reed. During the run Robert Morris shot 7-for-9 from the field and also hit both its attempts from beyond the arc.

"It was an extremely efficient game for us offensively, but our defensive urgency needs to get better," head coach Andrew Toole said. "The biggest challenge with our guys is our mental approach. It's the biggest hurdle. We need to stay in the proper mindset."

Pryor finished 10-for-14 shooting from the field, including 7-for-10 from beyond the arc, and was 1-for-2 at the free-throw line to lead four Colonials in double figures.

"This was the biggest game on our schedule," Pryor said. "Now that this game is over, Saturday is our biggest game. To see us putting wins together is a good feeling, but we have to come into the gym and continue to prepare and get better."

Reed finished with 14 points, five assists and one steal for Robert Morris, while senior forward Lucky Jones chipped in 13 points, eight assists and four dimes. Tate tied a career high with 10 points and also added five boards.

Fairleigh Dickinson was led by Townes, who scored 17 points off the bench while also registering six rebounds and three steals. Anderson added 12 points for the Knights, while Mustafaa Jones and Xavier Harris each scored 10 points.

Robert Morris closes out a two-game homestand Saturday, Jan. 31, with a 4:00 p.m. tilt against Bryant at the Sewall Center.