Feb. 24, 2007

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - Leading 40-35 at halftime, Robert Morris College (Ill.) used a 6-0 burst to open the second half and kept the Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball at bay, winning 82-69 on Saturday in McHie Arena.

Early on, the Tigers seemed poised to spring the upset, building a seven-point advantage on Tyler Wallenfang's (Washington, Ill.) (pictured at right) layup, giving the Tigers a 17-10 lead with 12:45 to play in the opening 20 minutes.

Robert Morris answered with an 8-0 run, capped by a dunk from Casey Love, giving the top-ranked team in the country an 18-17 lead with 10:24 to play.

The two teams traded leads over the next six minutes, until Freeman Taylor hit two free throws with 2:59 before halftime, giving Robert Morris a 34-32 lead.

The lead grew to five before halftime, as Melvin Council scored a layup, giving the Eagles a 40-35 halftime lead.

The Tigers had a chance to cut into the Robert Morris lead to start the half, but a turnover cost the Tigers the opportunity, as Reggie George converted a layup and free throw.

The Robert Morris possession fueled a 6-0 run, as the Eagles built an 11-point advantage (46-35) with 18:40 left to play.

Wallenfang snapped the Eagles' run, as he scored on back-to-back possessions, cutting the lead to seven (46-39) with 16:42 remaining.

But that was as close as the Tigers got, as Robert Morris went on a 19-8 run over the next seven minutes, building 65-47 lead with 9:25 to play.

Love's jumper with five minutes to play gave Robert Morris their largest lead of the game, 73-54.

The Tigers were able to close the lead to 12 on a couple of occasions down the stretch, but Robert Morris ended up with a 13-point victory.

Phil French (Richton Park, Ill.) led way for the Tigers, scoring a game-high 25 points, while Wallenfang posted a double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing a game-tying high 10 rebounds.

Five Eagles reached double figures, led by George's 15 points. Love and Anton Palmer each scored 13 points, while Taylor and John Winchester added 12 points a piece.