March 21, 2009

Kansas City, Mo. - Robert Morris College (Ill.) became the first team to punch its ticket to the Fab Four in the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Naitonal Championship with an 87-76 victory Saturday against Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) at Municipal Auditorium.

Four different players scored in double figures to help the Eagles grab their fourth national semifinal berth in the last five years. Robert Morris, the No. 8 seed in this year's tournament, won their 21^st consecutive game to push its record to 27-3 overall. The Eagles will face either No. 12 seed Concordia University (Calif.) or Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) on Monday at 6:50 p.m. CDT.

"We got ahead early on some good shooting and rebounding, and that took a little bit out of (Auburn Montgomery)," said Robert Morris head coach Al Bruehl. "I was really proud of the way Andre White played. He showed real leadership and you could see in his eyes that he didn't want to have his career end tonight."

White led a balanced attack for Robert Morris with 18 points and five assists, while Kenny Page connected for 17 points and four assists. Reggie Bunch had a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds as Marcus Hall added 10 points and four blocked shots for the Eagles. As a team, Robert Morris held a 57-35 rebounding edge against the Senators.

The game was close in the early moments before Robert Morris ripped off a 10-1 run to grab an 18-10 lead with 13:17 left in the first half. The Eagles eventually pushed the margin to 19 points before taking a 48-30 advantage into the locker room. Robert Morris limited the Senators to just 34.5 percent shooting in the opening period (10-of-29).

Auburn Montgomery made a late charge at Robert Morris, using an 11-4 run to pull within 77-72 with just under two minutes to play. But the Eagles put the game away at the free throw line, making seven of eight foul shots in the final minute.

Robert Johnson paced Auburn Montgomery with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Quadavious Brown was right behind with 20 points, and Ronnie Hickman posted 15 points and three steals for the Senators. Auburn Montgomery ends its season with an overall record of 27-7. This was the Senators' first visit to the NAIA quarterfinals since reaching the national championship game in 1988.

- NAIA -

GAME NOTES -

Robert Morris went on a 10-0 run early in the game, including back-to-back three-pointers by Jason Bowden and Billy Rush, and never gave up the lead after that ... the Eagles extended their lead with a 13-3 run late in the half and led by 17 at the break ... Reggie Bunch had a double-double in the first half for Robert Morris with 10 points and 11 rebounds ... Auburn Montgomery only allowed one field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half, but could only cut two points off their deficit as the Eagles hit seven of eight free throws in that span ... Reggie Bunch finished with 16 rebounds, the best single-game effort in the 2009 tournament ... the Senators' Robert Johnson recorded his second double-double of the tournament with 21 points and 11 rebounds ... Robert Morris improves to 12-5 all-time in tournament play, while Auburn Montgomery falls to 11-11 ... the last No. 8 seed to advance to the semifinals was Oklahoma Baptist in 2006.