Big: Every Game Is ...

By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Jan. 28, 2012

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - You might recall that a couple of days ago we suggested that Robert Morris University's Northeast Conference game against LIU Brooklyn last Thursday night was a rather big affair.

Scratch that. Was a big game. Period.

Well, guess what? Because the Colonials beat first-place LIU Brooklyn, 75-66, their game against St. Francis (N.Y.) Saturday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center is even bigger.

Let's make this one a huge game.

That's because another win Saturday night against a top contender in the NEC - St. Francis (N.Y.) is 7-2 in the NEC and tied for second place with the Colonials and Wagner - makes the LIU Brooklyn victory even more significant for the Colonials.

Another win would further gild the Colonials' league record that prior to the LIU Brooklyn triumph looked a little sketchy, and because a loss would tarnish that LIU Brooklyn victory more than a tad.

So while the Colonials took a major step forward Thursday night, they simply cannot afford to take a step back against St. Francis (N.Y.).

Head Coach Andrew Toole's team's focus has wandered sometimes this season, which is why the St. Francis (N.Y.) game looks a little troublesome.

"The way I look at it -- regardless of my team's 'psyche' - is that every game's a troublesome game,'' Toole said after the Colonials moved to 16-6 overall Thursday night. "Every game presents a different issue. Every game presents a different problem that we have to solve. As much intensity and focus and urgency that we had (against LIU Brooklyn), we need to have the same on Saturday, and we need to have it for the rest of the way out. I don't know if we've put 40 minutes together like we did (Thursday night) all year. I'm not sure we've even been close to 80 (minutes) yet on a weekend. So it will be interesting to see how locked in they are.''

Toole has to have some concern that his team could have a bit of an emotional letdown after ending LIU Brooklyn's 21-game winning streak against NEC opposition dating to last season. It's possible that some Colonials know the league's coaches in their preseason poll picked the Terriers to finish 11th in the NEC.

"I think (the players) understand that St. Francis is 7-2 now and that they're a very good team,'' Toole said. "What I think helps is that we had two absolute wars last year with them last year, and so hopefully some of the older guys can remind or let the younger guys in on that about how hard, how physical, how intense the game's going to be.''

Last season, the Colonials lost at St. Francis (N.Y.) in December, 65-63, after leading 63-59 with 31 seconds remaining, then beat the Terriers at the Sewall Center, 54-51, in January.

Junior guard Velton Jones is well aware of how tough those games where. He also knows a thing or two - or three - about how the Colonials can avoid a letdown Saturday night.

"Coming out with the same intensity and energy and focus (as the Colonials did Thursday night),'' Jones said. "If we can do that from here on out, I like our chances. LIU's a very, very good team. They score a lot of points, and they get up and down. For us to follow our game plan and for us to hold them to 66 points was a very good thing for us. We just have to build on this game and keep coming out with the intensity and energy and with the same focus for each game.''

The challenge of playing LIU Brooklyn definitely seemed to energize the Colonials. They'd achieved five of their previous six NEC victories against Monmouth (twice), Fairleigh Dickinson (twice) and Bryant, teams whose combined NEC record before Thursday's games was 3-21. Their other NEC win was a three-point nail-biter against Sacred Heart, which slipped to 4-5 Thursday night.

Yes, those wins had them in a second-place tie in the NEC. But were they really contenders?

Apparently yes, they are.

"Obviously they showed they can play at a championship level,'' Blackbird coach Jim Ferry said. "Robert Morris and ourselves and several other teams have the ability to win this conference championship. No question in my mind they'll be one of the teams down the stretch competing for the regular season championship and the tournament championship.

"They know how to win. They've been there. Very much like our program. I think we know how to win. We're going to be grinding it out as well, but there are several teams that can do so.''

Robert Morris won back-to-back NEC championships in 2009 and 2010 before losing to the Blackbirds, 85-82, in overtime in last season's championship game.

Certainly the revenge factor was in play Thursday night. But so, too, was the importance of the game relative to this season's standings.

"We felt like we had last year's championship game, but we let it go,'' Jones said. "LIU's a great team, and they won it. This year, they've been playing really well, and it was a big game for us. If we'd have come out with no intensity and energy and lost this game, we'd have dropped back even further in the standings.''

Jones provided an immediate indication about how Thursday night's game would go when he dropped in a three-pointer 15 seconds after tipoff.

"I thought that gave them some juice,'' Ferry said.

Jones finished with team-leading totals of 23 points, seven assists and a personal season-high six rebounds.

"I had to rebound,'' said Jones, who had no rebounds in the championship game loss. "I felt like me not rebounding last year in the championship game hurt us, so it was a big thing for me to go out and try to rebound the ball.''

Ferry had to expect Jones would be amped for Thursday night's game.

"I think he's one of the most competitive kids in our league,'' Ferry said. "Take away the basketball skill he has, which is fantastic. He's just a competitor. He took losing that championship last year personally. And he should. Any competitor should. He's playing great. I think he's the head of the monster right now, no question.''

"I knew (Velton) was locked in,'' Toole said. "It's funny -- as a coach, sometimes you worry that guys are not excited enough and then you worry that they're too excited and if things don't go great to start the game what's going to happen and how (are they) going to react. I think him making that three to start the game really allowed him to settle in. I thought in the second half, he really trusted his teammates and he was really sharp offensively. He was able to execute our offense and get guys in places where they could score and be effective.''

Jones certainly had help offensively. Sophomore Coron Williams contributed 13 points - 10 in the second half - and freshman Lucky Jones added 10 points.

But this win wasn't so much about the Colonials' offense as it was about their defense, which was tenacious and kept the Blackbirds from ever having a lead in the game.

"They really defended,'' Ferry said. "They had great focus. I thought Robert Morris really played at a high level. Andy did a great job having these guys prepared. They played really hard. Robert Morris in all the games I've seen this year, they hadn't played that hard. And they (usually) play hard. But tonight I thought they had it up to a whole other level.''

RMU held the Blackbirds to their lowest point total against an NEC team since March 4, 2010, when they beat Fairleigh Dickinson, 63-61, in an NEC Tournament quarterfinal game.

"I'm very proud of the way we defended,'' Toole said. "We obviously know how good LIU is and respect their talent and their ability and the way they play and the way they're coached, and I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo and playing the game at our speed as opposed to their speed. We defended the three for the first time in a long time.''

The Blackbirds were just 3-of-16 from beyond the arc.

"I can't say we get all the credit for that because I thought they missed some good open looks that they've made in the past few weeks,'' Toole said. "But I thought we were sharp on defense, and we hadn't been really sharp defensively in a while. It was nice to see that. I thought we did a good job because they're a team that gets to the 80s most games. So we had a sharp and concentrated defensive effort. I thought the places we needed to try to slow them, we were able to do that and that allowed us to win the game.''

So now what for the Colonials?

"I don't know. I really don't,'' Toole said. "I think (the players) were excited about the win. I think they were excited about the way that they played. They know how good LIU is, that's for sure, and I hope they understand that maybe (this win) can give us a little bit of confidence - and again I say this tentatively - to go on a roll.

"The next nine games are going to be extremely difficult. We've talked about how much better this league has gotten and how teams are really good. I think regardless of record, regardless of the standings, each and every game is going to be something you have to be fully prepared for and engaged in.''

UP NEXT: St. Francis (N.Y.) won at Saint Francis (Pa.), 75-65, Thursday night, its sixth victory in its past seven games.

Junior Akeem Johnson scored 22 points to lead the Terriers, who had 18 assists on their 26 field goals.

The Terriers rank second in the NEC in three-point field goal defense, limiting foes to 32.1 percent from international waters.

Senior Stefan Perunicic leads the team in scoring with an average of 13.7 points per game. He's also shooting 43.2 percent from deep. Sophomore Ben Mockford, like RMU's Mike McFadden a transfer from Iona, is second in scoring at 11.2 points per game, while Johnson averages 10.5. The Terriers have received solid contributions from 6'6'', 230-pound freshman Jalen Cannon, who averages 7.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and is shooting 57.7 percent from the field.

A CROWDED SEWALL: The crowd at the Sewall Center for the LIU Brooklyn game was a noisy gathering of 1,845, the largest for an RMU home game this season.

Toole would like to see at least a repeat of that for Saturday night's game.

"The crowd was awesome and hopefully they're back on Saturday,'' he said. "I think this is a team that when we're playing well is fun to watch and the game's entertaining and guys play really hard, and so I hope they come back and hopefully bring a friend.''

NEC NUGGETS: Wagner, which plays host to RMU next Thursday night, won at Sacred Heart Thursday, 73-54. Tyler Murray scored 21 points for the Seahawks, who thanks to Murray's 7-for-9 accuracy from deep, were 11-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Pioneers, who received 20 points from Shane Gibson, were just 3-of-20 from three-point range ... Monmouth dropped Central Connecticut to 6-3 in the NEC with a 58-56 overtime win on the road, getting the decisive points on two free throws by Mike Myers Keitt with 14 seconds left in the overtime ... The Hawks were 11-for-23 from deep, while the Blue Devils made only three of their 12 attempts from beyond the arc ... Host Quinnipiac won another overtime game, turning back Mount St. Mary's, 69-66. Julian Norfleet had 22 points for Mount St. Mary's, which led 43-28 at halftime. Ousmane Drame had 13 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats ...Fairleigh Dickinson ended its 16-game losing streak with a 66-63 win at Bryant. Lonnie Robinson scored 25 points for the Knights in a game in which Duquesne transfer Mequan Bolding did not play.