By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Jan. 23, 2010
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - For much of the first part of this decade, Monmouth ruled the Northeast Conference.
For the past two-plus seasons of this decade, Robert Morris University has ruled the NEC.
This afternoon, the teams meet at Monmouth to see which rules the day.
"It will be a war in Monmouth,'' RMU coach Mike Rice said.
The "war'' follows what Rice termed "a rock fight'' at Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday night.
More like a brick battle. Or clank contest.
In its 65-50 victory at FDU, the Colonials missed 35-of-55 field goal attempts. They missed 10-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc. They missed 14-of-36 free throw attempts.
The Knights, in turn, missed 31-of-37 field goal attempts. They missed 9-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc. They missed 12-of-26 free throw attempts.
"It wasn't a pretty one,'' Rice said. "We grinded one out.''
The win enabled RMU to retain its share of the NEC lead at 6-1 - and raised the Colonials' record in regular-season NEC games to 37-6 over the past two-plus seasons, which include two regular-season championships and the NEC Tournament championship last season.
Meanwhile, Monmouth, playing without suspended sophomore Travis Taylor, remained relevant in the NEC race with a 69-40 victory against visiting Saint Francis (Pa.), which improved the Hawks' NEC mark to 5-2.
That's the kind of record to which the Hawks were accustomed in the first six seasons of this decade.
In that stretch, the Hawks were 80-32 in NEC games, finished no lower than fourth and won three NEC championships.
However, in the next three seasons, they were 17-37 and twice failed to qualify for the NEC Tournament.
Now, here they are, once again a force in the league.
"The key at this level is to try to have balance,'' Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said. "We had a good run there for a while in the early part of the decade where we had well-balanced classes - three or four in every class -- and we kept it going. We lost that balance a little bit for whatever reason. We're starting to get it back, and we'll be fine again.
"I think that's where Robert Morris is getting now. They have some balance. They have some good freshmen and they have some upperclassmen that will help them along and they'll probably just keep the recruiting going and they'll be fine. I think we'll be fine, too.''
The Colonials received much-needed help Thursday night from a newcomer and an upperclassman in winning their fourth straight game.
Russell Johnson, who sat out his first year at Robert Morris to concentrate on academics, came off the bench for a season-high 15 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Gary Wallace, also off the bench, contributed 13 points, helping the bench produce 38 points as forwards Josiah Whitehead and Lijah Thompson combined for 10 points to go along with the production from Johnson and Wallace.
Johnson was especially effective in the first half.
He made all five of his field goal attempts and scored 11 points, leading RMU to a 32-25 halftime lead. Remove Johnson from the equation, and the Colonials in the first half were 6-of-25 from the field.
"Unenthusiastic,'' Rice called the Colonials' first half performance offensively. "Without pace or flow. I can't think of a worse half of basketball - and we've played some pretty rotten ones.''
It did not help that forward Rob Robinson went scoreless in his 22 minutes on the floor. Robinson is battling a sore heel.
"We're going to have to get him healthy,'' Rice said.
Monmouth lost at Robert Morris, 78-67, last Saturday night. In that game, Taylor scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds. Two nights later, Calloway announced Taylor had been suspended for seven games "for breaking team rules.''
The Hawks didn't seem to miss Taylor against the Red Flash, however. They led 32-25 at halftime, then scored 24 of the first 30 points of the second half and cruised to the finish.
The 40 points Saint Francis (Pa.) managed were the fewest permitted by Monmouth in a game since it beat Lehigh, 67-39, Dec. 29, 2006.
"Defensively, we were very good (Thursday night),'' Calloway said. "Our guys were ready, and without Travis we can go a little deeper - especially on defense - which will make us better.''
Taylor averages 16.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. In Taylor's place, Calloway started 6'8" junior Nick DelTufo, who entered the game averaging 1.9 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. Against the Red Flash, DelTufo had six points and four rebounds.
"It shows us that, even though we don't have Travis, and obviously we would rather have Travis, that we can still compete and play hard and still win games,'' DelTufo told the Asbury Park Press. "When he comes back (Feb. 13), we'll be even better.''
There was an interesting - and perhaps instructive - sidelight to Taylor's suspension Thursday night.
Central Connecticut State, which Jan. 16 routed visiting Sacred Heart, 88-65, Thursday night played at Sacred Heart and lost, 71-53. Sacred Heart did not have starting senior guard Chauncey Hardy, who was suspended by coach Dave Bike for violating team rules.
"I said to our team before the game (that Sacred Heart was) playing without one of their better players,'' CCSU coach Howie Dickenman told the Connecticut Post. "But a team doesn't miss one of those good players the first game they don't have him. That's what I believe, and they certainly didn't.''
The Pioneers got 17 points and 12 rebounds from Corey Hassan and 13 points and 10 rebounds from 7-footer Liam Potter while raising their NEC record to 4-3.
"I was pleased because we battled,'' Bike said. "They pushed us around at their place, and I was very pleased we punched back.''
Quinnipiac kept its share of the NEC lead with Robert Morris by coasting past winless Bryant, 84-59, for its sixth consecutive victory. The Bobcats led, 47-25, at halftime. James Feldeine had 18 points, and Deontay Twyman came off the bench for 16 points for Quinnipiac.
Long Island, which had been in the three-way for first place, fell to 5-2 with a 65-59 overtime loss to visiting Wagner, which picked up its first NEC win of the season.
Wagner's T.J. Czeski, who plays defensive back for the football Seahawks, played 43 of the 45 minutes and did a tenacious defensive job on Long Island star Jaytornah Wisseh.
Wisseh made only 3-of-21 field goal attempts, including 1-of-17 from inside the arc, and finished with 13 points. He was 0-for-11 from the field after halftime.
"I was just trying to keep him in front of me,'' Czeski told the Staten Island Advance. "I know how good a player he is, and I was getting a lot of defensive help from my teammates. You can't beat a player that good. You just have to try to manage him.''
"He was terrific,'' Wagner coach Mike Deane said of Czeski. "T.J. gave us the best defensive effort we've had from a guy in quite some time. He kept Jaytornah from getting to the basket on us.''
"Czeski was the whole key,'' LIU coach Jim Ferry said. "He did a great job on Jaytornah.''
Mount St. Mary's, the coaches' preseason to win the NEC, continued to struggle.
The Mountaineers lost at St. Francis (N.Y.), 63-60, yet another close loss for the Mountaineers who dropped to 2-5 in the league. Mount St. Mary's has lost a pair of three-point games to the Terriers, lost by six points at Robert Morris in the teams' NEC opener and lost by one point at Quinnipiac.
Jeremy Goode and Shawn Atupem each had 14 points for Mount St. Mary's. The Terriers' offense also was balanced - Kayode Ayeni, Akeem Bennett and Akeem Johnson (off the bench) all had 12 points, while Ricky Cadell added 11.
AROUND THE NEC: Sacred Heart attempted only three free throws against CCSU, making two … CCSU shot just 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field … Quinnipiac (12-6) outrebounded Bryant, 40-32, meaning the Bobcats have outrebounded their opponent in all 18 of their games … FDU standout Sean Baptiste did not start against Robert Morris and wound up with just one point in his 21 minutes … The Colonials outrebounded the Knights, 46-32 … Alvin Mofunanya had 15 rebounds, almost half the Kinghts' total … Robert Morris has received 30 points or more from its bench in four games this season - 59 against Alcorn State, 45 against Cleveland State, 38 against FDU Thursday night and 30 against Kent State … Long Island did not help itself at Wagner by shooting 28.6 percent (20-of-70) from the field.
