All-America guard Mark Sears scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and second-seeded Alabama pulled away late to escape 15th-seeded Robert Morris 90-81 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonials gave the Crimson Tide (27-8) all they could handle and even took their first lead at 65-64 on a layup by Josh Omojafo to bring the Rocket Arena crowd to its feet.

Alabama responded behind Sears, who had seven points during an 11-2 surge that gave the Crimson Tide some breathing room against the Horizon League champions.

“(I) kept playing the right way, and then the game repaid me back,” said Sears, who also had five rebounds and 10 of Alabama’s 25 assists.

Robert Morris (26-9) came in as a 22-1/2 point underdog, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, yet spent most of the afternoon threatening to author the first true bracket-buster of the tournament after a relatively quiet opening day on Thursday.

Instead, the Crimson Tide gathered themselves to advance.

Cleveland native Amarion Dickerson led the Colonials with 25 points, including a spectacular sequence in the second half in which the 6-foot-7 junior put together a series of athletic buckets that helped erase a 10-point deficit. Dickerson added nine rebounds.

Saint Mary’s 59, Vanderbilt 56: Jordan Ross keyed a second-half rally while star Augustas Marciulionis dealt with foul trouble, and the seventh-seeded Gaels fended off 10th-seeded Vanderbilt in Cleveland.

The Commodores led by 12 points when Marciulionis — the two-time West Coast Conference Player of the Year — exited with his fourth foul early in the second half.

Ross scored 10 of his 15 points with Marciulionis on the bench to help the Gaels (29-5) pull even, and Marciulionis hit a couple of clutch shots down the stretch to set up a meeting with No. 2 seed Alabama on Sunday.

Jason Edwards led Vanderbilt (20-13) with 18 points, but the Commodores missed a chance at the program’s first tournament victory in 13 years.

Baylor 75, Mississippi State 72: Robert Wright scored 19 points, V.J. Edgecombe added 16 and No. 9 Baylor squeaked past No. 8 Mississippi State 75-72 in Raleigh, N.C.

Langston Love added 15 points and Norchad Omier had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bears (20-14), who led by 11 points in the second half but had to hold off the Bulldogs in the final seconds — and even tenths of seconds.

Josh Hubbard had 26 points to lead the Bulldogs (21-13), who were seeking their first March Madness victory since 2008.

Duke 93, Mount St. Mary’s 49: Tyrese Proctor had 19 points and freshman star Cooper Flagg returned from an ankle injury as No. 1 seed Duke cruised in Raleigh, N.C.

Flagg had 14 points and seven boards for the Blue Devils (32-3), the East bracket headliner opening a push for a sixth national title roughly a half-hour’s drive from its Durham campus. Duke jumped to a 13-2 lead in a dominant first half.