FOOTBALL RUNS PAST CONFERENCE CHAMPION AND #25 ROBERT MORRIS 27-21; BROWN 138 YARDS AND TWO SCORES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Jordan Brown (Glastonbury, Conn.), the Northeast Conference's leading rusher, ran for 138 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead Bryant University to a 27-21 upset victory over visiting No. 25 Robert Morris on a beautiful and warm Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.

Bryant, now 3-0 all-time against Robert Morris and 8-0 all-time against NEC schools from Pennsylvania, improves to 7-3 on the season and 4-3 in league play heading into next week's season finale. Bryant recorded its first win over a nationally ranked opponent on the Division I(FCS) level and its sixth win at home this season.

"It was a great victory for our program," said head coach Marty Fine following the game.  "The kids really came ready to play and played hard right from the start and deserved to win."

The loss is the first in the conference this season for Robert Morris (8-2, 7-1), which captured the league's regular season championship last week, and snaps an eight-game win streak for the Colonials.

The story of the game on this afternoon was the outstanding play of Bryant's stingy defense as the Bulldogs kept RMU's standout running back Myles Russ in check for most of the game, but forced four turnovers that would prove costly.

 The first came midway through the first quarter with the Bulldogs trailing 7-6.  With the Colonials facing a third-and-nine near midfield, Bryant senior free safety Addison Lynch (Braintree, Mass.) picked off a Jeff Sinclair pass and rambled 49 yards for a touchdown and put the Bulldogs on top 13-7.

It was the first of three interceptions thrown on the day by Sinclair who struggled against the Bulldogs' defense all afternoon.  The sophomore was 0-for-12 passing in the second quarter and finished the game completing only 15 of 37 passes for 159 yards. 

Robert Morris appeared to have caught a break when Brown mishandled a punt which was recovered by RMU's Sean McElhinny on the Bryant 15.  After Russ was stopped for a two yard loss, Sinclair was picked off by Bryant's Samad Wagstaff (New Rochelle, N.Y.) at the 10-yard line and the junior corner back ran 90 yards for the score to make it 20-7.

For Wagstaff, it was his fourth interception of the season, three of which were returned for scores by the junior cornerback, and set a new school record for longest interception return for a touchdown.

Sinclair would throw his third pick on the afternoon on RMU's ensuing drive, this time it was Max Machado (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) coming up big for Bryant as the freshman who made a brilliant one-handed interception of a Sinclair pass for his team-best fifth of the season.

Bryant, undefeated in six home games this year, took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at the half, but the Colonials opened the third with a strong defensive stand and started to get some momentum going to make it interesting.

Sinclair and the Colonials finally started to get the offense in gear as the sophomore signal caller slipped through the Bryant defense for a 20-yard gain on third down and after a big 5-yard run by Raphael Johnson on fourth down inside the six yard line, Johnson would pull RMU to within six, 20-14 with a 1-yard run moments later.   

Bryant's offense, which also struggled for much of the afternoon, finally caught a huge break as quarterback Mike Croce (Waterbury, Conn.) hooked up with senior wide-out Khalel Pritchard (Boston, Mass.) across the middle for a 64-yard pass play down to the RMU 3 yard line.    

One play later, Brown broke through the Colonial defense untouched for his second touchdown of the game and giving the Bulldogs a little more breathing room, leading 27-14.

The Bulldogs had a chance to put the game away early in the fourth as senior Mike Canfora (Verona, N.J.) recovered a fumble on a punt return by RMU's Michael Landers at the Robert Morris 36 yard line.  But the Bulldogs came up just short on a fourth-down pass play by Croce to Matt Tracey (Littleton, Colo.) and turned the ball back over to RMU on their own 6 yard line. 

The Colonials would march 94 yards in 11 plays but the drive took nearly six minutes off the clock.  The Bulldogs would again be forced to punt on their next possession, but this time, Bryant's defense rose to the challenge.

Taking over on their own 16 yard line with 2:27 left, Sinclair completed an 18-yard pass to Shadrae King (two catches) for 18 yards, but after a short completion to Anthony Coleman, Sinclair was sacked by freshman defensive end Maduka Nwanekezi (Milton, Mass.) and two incomplete plays later and 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against RMU, the Bulldogs took over and were able to run out the clock.   

For Brown, it was his ninth 100-yard rushing game of the season for the sophomore tailback.  His two touchdowns give him 15 for the season moving him past former standout Lindsey Gamble for third all-time for touchdowns in a season and also moves him into a tie for fifth with Chris Peaks for 15 touchdowns in a career.

Linebacker Jason Riffe (Newton, Mass.) had another huge day to lead the defense, finishing with nine tackles while Machado added six tackles as did Nwanekezi who also had three tackles for a loss. 

Russ finished with 109 yards on 22 carries while receiver T.J. Green had five catches for 75 yards. 

Bryant will host Duquesne University in the season-finale next Saturday at noon at Bulldog Stadium.  The Bulldogs will honor 29 seniors playing in their final game.