Velton Jones scored 20 points and Robert Morris held off a furious rally to defeat Long Island U. 70-69 in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night.
The Colonials (3-3), the defending Northeast Conference champs, picked up their first road win when Long Island (4-2) missed three shots in the final 11 seconds.
C.J. Garner shot an errant jumper, which was rebounded by teammate Jamal Olasewere, who missed with 8 seconds left. He grabbed the rebound but missed another jumper with 1 second left.
The misses ended Long Island's rally from a 14-point deficit with 13:42 left in the game.
Coron Williams scored 13, Lijah Thompson had 12 and Charles Yann scored 10 for Robert Morris.
Olasewere had 15 and Garner scored 13.
Long Island was 0 for 16 on 3-pointers in the first half, but shot 71.4 percent (5 of 7) from beyond the arc in the second.
