Robert Morris, in a very tight contest, prevailed over the Saint Francis University Red Flash, 60-57. Below are key points to the Colonials’ win:

King Jones and Karvel reign supreme: Before Karvel Anderson showed up in the second half, Lucky Jones became the leader he set out to be this season. In just the first half, Jones paced the Colonials with nine points, one assist, a steal, a block and two rebounds. He ended up with 18 points, two steals and seven rebounds.

Anderson opened up the scoring for RMU, as they came out to an 11-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half. He broke through the double-team all night long to finish the game with 21 points, a game-high for Robert Morris.

Leaders come to play when it matters most. The Northeast Conference Player of the Year hit his first 3-point field goal in the league tournament. He also was perfect from the charity stripe, going 12-12 on the afternoon.

Doing all the little things: They say free throws win games and the Colonials proved that notion, hitting 21-of-24 free throws against the Red Flash.

RMU turned the ball over 10 times, but controlled it in the second half with only four. As a team, RMU out-rebounded the Red Flash, 31 to 29. On the defensive side of the ball, the Colonials pulled down 23 on the glass.

To complement the excellent defense, RMU compiled six assists, one block, and eight steals. With a game that only saw three 3-point field goals.

Defensive powerhouse:  In addition to the dominance on defense all year, RMU held the Red Flash to 20 points, tied for the lowest-season total since the Colonials held Alabama to 20 in early January.

There has only been three times in the past 10 games that the Colonials held their opponent to under 60 points. Holding the Red Flash to 57 points was the second-lowest total since February 8^th, when they played St. Francis Brooklyn and only gave up 50.

First half troubles: The Colonials scored their season-low in the first half with only 15 points. Karvel Anderson, for the second straight game, did not score a point during the first 20 minutes of play and was 0-3 from the field. Turnovers came in bunches as RMU committed six, while the Red Flash turned the ball over eight times.

Lucky Jones led all scorers with nine points off of four field goals. In the first half, only three colonials scored a point, with David Appolon and Kavon Stewart contributing four and two respectively.

After taking an early 6-2 lead, Robert Morris was held scoreless for 8:40, letting St. Francis U take a 10-point lead midway through the first half.

The Colonials final line from the field was 7-28, as the Red Flash were just as anemic with an 8-26 mark from the field.

History said RMU would win: Coming into today’s matchup, head coach Andy Toole never lost a game against the Red Flash, posting a perfect 8-0 record. RMU owned a 71.9 ppg average, while St. Francis U averages only 62.0 points per game.

The all-time series gave the advantage to Robert Morris, winners of now 14-straight and a 48-28 record in 76 total meetings.

Anderson averaged 26.0 points per game against St. Francis U this season, scoring 24 points on January 16, and 28 points on February 13. He was prolific from the 3-point line, putting up a 7-for-14 line in two games.

Final word: Robert Morris will meet the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Charles L. Sewall Center. It will be aired on ESPN2. This is a rematch of last year’s NEC semifinals matchup, which had the Mountaineers defeat the Colonials, 69-60.

Anderson had one note to remind the fans leading into to Tuesday’s NEC finals.

“I feel like it’s the perfect ending to our story,” he said.