Robert Morris beats Cent. Connecticut St. 71-63

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) -Karon Abraham scored 18 points and defending champion Robert Morris beat Central Connecticut State 71-63 in the quarterfinals of the Northeast Conference tournament on Thursday night.

The second-seeded Colonials will play third-seeded Mount St. Mary's in the semifinals on Sunday.

Dallas Green, Mezie Nwigwe, Velton Jones and Josiah Whitehead each scored 10 points for the Colonials (21-11), who have won six straight and nine of their past 10 against the Blue Devils.

The Colonials jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed, although the Blue Devils pulled to within a point several times. Leading 63-61 with 2:06 to play, the Colonials pulled away with 7-0 run. Two free throws by Abraham capped the run for a 70-61 lead with 26 seconds remaining.

Robby Ptacek led the seventh-seeded Blue Devils (12-18) with 26 points and Vince Rosario added 16.