Top-seeded Robert Morris won ugly with a 64-50 triumph over eighth-seeded Monmouth tonight at the Sewall Center, but, at tournament time, looks don't so much matter.

With the victory, the Colonials advance to a Northeast Conference tournament semifinal date Sunday at home against Mount St. Mary's, an 80-70 winner against Quinnipiac.

NEC Player of the Year Tony Lee scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in a three-minute spurt starting with roughly six minutes remaining, breaking open a close game.

The regular-season champions had a rocky start. They trailed by 12-4 after the opening six minutes and, through the first 10 minutes, missed seven consecutive field-goal attempts and committed seven turnovers while trailing throughout almost the entire first half.

Going 10 players deep against a Monmouth thinned to seven by the departures of a couple of key players by regular season's end, the Colonials (26-6) tuned up their defense and speed to start their comeback. They grabbed their first lead of the game with just 10.8 seconds left in the first half, on two Lee free throws.

The Colonials extended their school-record winning streak to 14 games - tying Cornell for the second-longest nationally behind Davidson's 19.

The victory also ended Robert Morris' skids of three consecutive NEC tournament losses at home, losses in four of its past five NEC tournament games and losses in six of the previous nine first rounds.