Different freshman, familiar story line.

With leading scorer Karon Abraham struggling from the field, fellow freshman guard Velton Jones scored a career-high 21 points to lead Robert Morris to a 66-58 Northeast Conference victory against Long Island Thursday night at the Sewall Center.

"Velton killed us," said Long Island coach Jim Ferry. "I thought he was tremendous today."

Jones made one acrobatic layup after another and sparked a lethargic Robert Morris team (13-8, 8-1) to a second-half surge. He finished 9 of 12 from the field.

The win kept Robert Morris tied for first place in the conference with Quinnipiac (14-6, 8-1), which beat Wagner Thursday.

"Tonight there was no stopping him at certain points," Colonials coach Mike Rice said of Jones. "He was getting to the basket."

Rice said he gave Jones a lot of leeway leading the offense toward the end of the game.

"Tonight, it was 'Velton, what do you want?' " Rice said. " 'What do you think we should do?' I think 80 percent of the plays in the second half he called."

Senior guard Mezie Nwigwe poured in a career-high 20 points in the win.

"Those two kind of took it upon themselves to attack," Rice said of Nwigwe and Jones.

Abraham finished with 6 points, shooting 1 for 7 from the field, but Rice said he played a crucial role because of how he defended Long Island star Jaytornah Wisseh. Abraham held Wisseh to 9 points on a 1-for-12 shooting performance.

"It's not about scoring all the time," Rice said.

The win avenged the Colonials' only conference loss -- against Long Island (8-12, 6-3) earlier this month.

The biggest difference between the 74-64 loss Jan. 7 and the victory Thursday was the Colonials' increased emphasis on scoring points in the lane.

In Brooklyn, Long Island outscored Robert Morris, 30-20, but on Thursday the Colonials bested the Blackbirds down low, winning the lane battle, 32-16.

Robert Morris' margin of victory would have been even larger were it not for poor rebounding. The Colonials' limited the Blackbirds to a 27.3 percent shooting but were outrebounded, 43-30, including 21-7 on the offensive glass.

"A big part of defense is actually obtaining the ball after they miss," Rice said.

The first half was a streaky one for the Colonials, who at several points looked as if they would run away with the score.

After jumping out to an 8-0 lead and later a 12-5 lead, Robert Morris hit a scoring drought that lasted five minutes, 25 seconds, surrendering the lead in the process.

Once the drought was broken, the Colonials went on a 14-4 run to lead, 26-17.

Then the Colonials his another slump and did not score between the 5:20 and 2:10 marks of the first half as the Blackbirds went on a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead, 27-26.

The Colonials outscored Long Island, 6-2, over the remaining 2:10 to enter halftime with a 32-29 lead.

Robert Morris held Long Island to 27 percent shooting in the first half. The Colonials made 44 percent of their first-half shots.

The Colonials struggled early in the second half, scoring just one field goal in the first 6:12.

But a strangling defense kept Long Island from scoring much, either. With Robert Morris trailing, 40-37, Jones scored the Colonials' next six points as Robert Morris regained its composure and, eventually, a lasting lead.

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