This was eight minutes into the second half of what had been a miserable game for Robert Morris offensively.

"It was a mess," guard Jimmy Langhurst said.

And then -- suddenly and emphatically -- the Colonials became spotless.

Langhurst came downcourt on a fast-break and fed guard Gary Wallace with a simple pass. Wallace made a jump shot.

As Langhurst went back on defense, Robert Morris coach Mike Rice hollered "Jimmy!" and blew him a kiss -- as if to say, "Finally! Thank you!"

"I think he meant that for the whole team," Langhurst said. "But if it was for me, I'll take it."

After that sweet basket, the Colonials kissed Shippensburg goodbye, rolling to a 69-34 exhibition victory against the Division II Red Raiders at the Sewall Center.

After Wallace's basket, Langhurst made a 3-pointer, Mezie Nwigwe hit from the wing, Jeremy Chappell had a steal and a stuff, Langhurst scored from the left baseline and Nwigwe converted a three-point play, capping a 21-0 run.

"I thought it came easier after that," Rice said, referring to Langhurst's pass to Wallace. "We ran the offense the way we're supposed to. I was finally pleased with something we've done in practice.

"Before that, we were all pressing to make the assist or the spectacular shot. They tried to hit a home run every time down. We don't have LeBron James on our team. We just needed to make the simple pass."

Until their offense got tidied up, the Colonials, who scored 44 points in the second half, used their defense to keep Shippensburg at arm's length.

The Red Raiders committed 32 turnovers -- 16 in each half.

"We couldn't make a shot," Chappell said. "Luckily our defense was there. That's what we're all about: defense."

Two years ago, that certainly wasn't the case.

"Not at all," Chappell said. "We didn't practice defense. We had a thousand [offensive] plays and that's what we practiced."

Rice singled out Chappell for his defense, saying, "I don't know if he made one mistake."

Robert Morris received good minutes off the bench from newcomer Josiah Whitehead, a junior-college transfer. The 6-6 forward contributed nine points -- seven in the first half -- and had four rebounds.

"It really helped me to sit and see how intense it was," Whitehead said. "I was nervous. I think being able to watch some helped a lot. I liked how everybody played defense. I just wanted to pick it up defensively. I was focused."

Nwigwe, who started, led the Colonials with 12 points. Chappell finished with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. And Bateko Francisco, whom Rice wants to be more aggressive offensively, had 10 points.

The Colonials, who open the season next Friday night at St. Bonaventure, played without center Rob Robinson, who was suspended for violating a team rule. Rice said the 6-8 junior's status is game by game.

"He's got to show me he wants to do things within our framework," Rice said.

Robert Morris also will be without freshman guard Jason Burns, who has transferred.