Robert Morris guard Karon Abraham said he didn't know how far he was from the basket. Coach Mike Rice said he was at half court, a slight exaggeration.

However deep he was, Abraham sent Robert Morris deeper in the Northeast Conference tournament.

Abraham hit two long 3-pointers late in the game to propel Robert Morris to a 71-63 victory against Central Connecticut State in an NEC tournament quarterfinal Thursday night at the Sewall Center.

"A terrific player made two terrific shots," Central Connecticut coach Howie Dickenman said.

As his team clung to a 60-59 lead, Abraham, a freshman, took the ball off a Rob Robinson screen and fired from well beyond NBA range near the top of the key, hitting nothing but net with 2:38 remaining.

Central Connecticut forward Markeys Deans scored on the Blue Devils' next possession to pull his team back within a score.

But Abraham struck again on nearly the exact same play -- a deep 3-pointer coming off a Robinson screen with 1:49 remaining. This time, he was even farther from the basket.

"I just look at the basket," he said. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was at. I didn't know I was that far out. I thought I was closer. Just tried to make a play."

Rice said he called the first play because he noticed the Blue Devils were cutting under Robert Morris' screens. He didn't necessarily like Abraham's second attempt.

"The last one when he was out at center court, I was screaming 'no, no, no,' the whole way," Rice said. "Then I said 'yes' and pumped my fist."

Dallas Green dunked a rebound with a little more than a minute remaining to seal the Blue Devils' fate. It was Robert Morris' third consecutive win in the tournament quarterfinals.

The Colonials led from start to finish, but Central Connecticut trailed by one or two possessions for the majority of the game.

Rice said his team did not play with the intensity he expected in a playoff game.

"We didn't play our best," he said. "We didn't play together. We didn't play with passion and energy, and yet, they found a way to be successful."

Robert Morris started the game on a 9-0 run, shooting 50 percent through the first five minutes. The Blue Devils missed their first five shots from the field and turned over the ball six times before scoring their first basket at the 14:53 mark of the first half.

But the Colonials went through a slump of their own that allowed Central Connecticut to pull back in the game. After Josiah Whitehead hit a jump shot that gave the Colonials a 15-6 lead, Robert Morris went on a 10-minute, 56-second field-goal drought. Before Gary Wallace ended the slump at the 2:27 mark, Robert Morris led by just one point.

Whitehead scored 10 points as the Colonials' bench outscored the Blue Devils' bench, 20-0.

The Colonials entered halftime with a 28-24 lead.

Central Connecticut pulled within one point early in the second half, trailing 38-37. Then, the Colonials went on a 7-0 run, capped by Velton Jones' 3-pointer with 12:50 remaining. But again, the Colonials could not pull away. The Blue Devils outscored Robert Morris, 10-3, over the next five minutes to again pull within one point.

" 'They can't knock us out,' " Dickenman said he told his team. "'If we're allowed to hang around, minute by minute, if we're allowed to hang around, we can steal this game.'"

Enter Abraham. The NEC rookie of the year scored eight points in the final three minutes to will his team to a win.

"You don't expect those shots" in the playoffs from a freshman, Rice said.

The Colonials will play host to third-seed Mount St. Mary's at 7 p.m. Sunday in the semifinals.

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