Youngstown -- Coron Williams hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Robert Morris to a 59-56 win over the Youngstown State men's basketball team on Thursday evening at Beeghly Center.
Williams' triple came 40 seconds after Anthony Myers nailed a 3-pointer to tie the score on the Colonials' previous possession. Kendrick Perry turned the ball over on YSU's final possession with 8.2 seconds left.
Robert Morris improves to 10-3 and snaps YSU's 11-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents. The Colonials were previously the last non-Horizon League team to win at Beeghly Center on Dec. 30, 2009. YSU is now 6-6.
Perry led all scorers with 18 points, and DuShawn Brooks had 16 points. Blake Allen added 12, and the trio each hit four 3-pointers. The Penguins hit 12 triples in the game, but Brooks hit their final one at the 9:50 mark of the second half.
That Brooks trey made the score 49-43, and Robert Morris relied on free throws to cut the margin to 49-48 with six minutes left. The Penguins scored the next six points on a Brooks floater and two free throws from both he and Fletcher Larson. Brooks' jumper at the 5:47 mark was YSU's last field goal of the game.
With YSU ahead 55-48 and Robert Morris without a field goal in almost seven minutes, Williams hit a 3-pointer out of a timeout to make the score 55-51. Brooks then missed a jumper, and two Myers free throws quickly made the score 55-53 with 3:14 left.
Neither team scored until Ashen Ward's free throw with 53.7 ticks left put YSU on top 56-53. Myers' triple tied the score with 40.3 seconds left, and Williams' triple at the buzzer won it.
Williams finished with 14 points, and Velton Jones had 15 points and six assists. Robert Morris out-rebounded YSU 43-28, which included 16 offensive boards. The Colonials were able to translate that into a 16-4 edge in second-chance points.
Before the final score, Robert Morris had led for just 20 seconds in the second half.
YSU outshot Robert Morris 37.3 percent to 35.7 percent, and the Penguins made four more triples. Robert Morris outscored YSU 11-6 at the free-throw line.
Youngstown State led by as many as seven points in the first half but had to settle for a 32-31 lead at the break.
Robert Morris led 8-5 with early two 3-pointers, but Youngstown State went on an 11-2 run to go up 16-10 on a Perry triple at the 14:25 mark. The Colonials hit a bucket on their next possession to make the score 16-12, and Brooks answered with a triple - YSU's third in as many possessions - to put the Guins ahead 19-12.
YSU still led 24-17 after an Allen triple at the 8:47 mark, but that was the Guins' only bucket in a six-minute span. Williams made a jumper at the 6:18 mark to end an 8-0 run that put Robert Morris on top 25-24. The Penguins' answered with an 8-2 run to go back up 32-27 after another Allen triple, YSU's seventh of the half. Robert Morris scored the final four points of the stanza to cut the margin to one at the break.
The Penguins were 7-for-14 from 3-point range in the opening half, and the Colonials hit 4-of-9 from distance.
Youngstown State will start Horizon League play at Cleveland State on Saturday, Dec. 31, at 2 p.m.