By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
March 7, 2010
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - If it's March, it must be Mount St. Mary's.
And Robert Morris University.
At the Charles L. Sewall Center.
As Yogi Berra said: "It's déjà vu all over again.''
And again.
And again.
And ...
"They're always going to be there,'' RMU forward Josiah Whitehead said.
Usually, though, the Mountaineers are here.
The teams will play each other in a Northeast Conference tournament game for the fifth time in five seasons. This meeting will mark the fourth straight season they've played each other in an NEC tournament game at the Sewall Center.
"It's a testament to our two programs,'' Mountaineer coach Milan Brown said. "In order to keep playing each other in the playoffs, we have to keep winning.''
Each team did its part in the quarterfinals Thursday night.
Third-seeded Mount St. Mary's (16-14) extended its winning streak to 11 consecutive games by eliminating visiting sixth seed Saint Francis (Pa.), 65-50. Second-seeded Robert Morris (21-11) dispatched seventh seed Central Connecticut State, 71-63.
Those results set up the 15th game in five seasons between the Mountaineers and the Colonials. Robert Morris has won nine of the previous 14. The teams are 2-2 against each other in their previous four NEC tourney matchups.
They have met in the quarterfinals twice.
Robert Morris won in Emmitsburg, Md., four years ago on Jeremy Chappell's late three-pointer.
The Mountaineers won at the Sewall Center three years ago in a 17-point rout.
They won again here the next year in the semifinals in an 18-point beatdown en route to winning the NEC championship.
Last season, the Colonials beat Mount St. Mary's here, 48-46, in the NEC championship game.
And so here we - and they - go again.
"It's going to be a challenge - and one we'll be looking forward to,'' Brown said.
There seems little doubt the Colonials have been looking forward to this - so much so that they almost overlooked Central Connecticut State.
"I guess we looked past this game a little bit because (the talk was) about 'Sunday, Sunday, Sunday' and (we didn't focus) as much as we should have on this team - which was a good team and gave us their all,'' Colonial freshman Karon Abraham said.
RMU head coach Mike Rice sensed something amiss with his players in what he called a "really bad'' practice Wednesday and in a desultory shoot-around Thursday.
That carried over into the game against CCSU.
"It was surprising the lack of energy that we had,'' Rice said. "We had guys just sitting in the huddle not communicating. Usually, I have to tell the guys to be quiet. It was blank faces. I have to take the responsibility. I have no idea what I did or what my staff did, but we have to get these guys back energized and excited to play.''
Rice paused.
"How silly does that sound?'' he said. "(Get them) excited to go to the NCAA tournament? To fulfill a dream? But we have to do it. I have no idea what's going to happen Sunday. It's Mount-Robert Morris, so you would think I'd have to settle them down, but I'm not sure now.''
Senior Mezie Nwigwe is sure.
"It's Mount St. Mary's,'' he said. "I think we're going to come out with intensity. Coach said he doesn't know, but I'm sure we're going to come out with intensity like we did last time. Hopefully this time, we make more winning plays than we did last time.''
The last time was just Feb. 27 in Emmitsburg.
The Colonials trailed for only 35 seconds that day. However, eight of those were the final eight seconds, and Mount St. Mary's won, 63-61.
"We're still everybody's team to beat,'' Mountaineer senior guard Jeremy Goode told the Carroll County Times.
Said Saint Francis (Pa.) coach Don Friday a few days ago: "For three years, they've been the team everyone's been chasing in our league. I'm not surprised - and I don't think anyone in our league is surprised - at how well they've played down the stretch.''
In those three years, Robert Morris has won two regular-season championships and shared a third. Had the Colonials won at Mount St. Mary's, Feb. 27, their streak would be three consecutive outright regular-season championships.
But they didn't. And the Colonials remember.
"They took our championship away from us,'' Nwigwe said. "We've been looking forward to playing them again. We know they're going to come out fighting, so we just have to swing back. Don't let them knock us out.
"It's a rivalry game. No matter what the situation is -- regular-season game or a championship game -- we always have to step it up a notch. It's like playing against your big brother. You're going to want to go hard and you want to prove them wrong every time because you know if you don't they're going to talk trash and they're going to let you know, so you're going to want to go hard every single time you play them - no matter what.
"It's probably the same for them. They know that we're going to come hard, so they're going to play hard, too. We respect them and they respect us.''
So perhaps all will end well for the Colonials after all.
And after their anything-but-a-sure-thing win over Central Connecticut State.
"As the game was going along,'' Blue Devil coach Howie Dickenman said, "I told the players, 'We're not supposed to win, but guess what? They can't knock us out. If we're allowed to hang around, minute by minute, we can steal this game.'''
However -- in the game's 38th minute -- the Colonials finally tightened security and prevented the Blue Devils' heist.
Twenty seconds after CCSU crawled to within a point for the ninth time in the game, Abraham drained a three-pointer from way deep to the left of the top of the key.
Fifty seconds after that, Abraham made another spectacular deep three from even further out.
"A terrific player made two terrific shots,'' Dickenman said. "Those two shots were the killers.''
With 1:01 left, senior Dallas Green jammed home a rebound. The aroused Colonials had a 68-61 lead and had secured their yet-again date with Mount St. Mary's.
"We finally did something that excited us and sparked our interest,'' Rice said. "I guess I should be happy with that - and I am. We grinded one out. We didn't start playing (together) with any passion and fire until five minutes to go in the game. Yet we found a way to be successful.''
TOURNEY TIDBITS: Abraham led the Colonials with 18 points, his highest total since Jan. 30, when he scored 23 against St. Francis (N.Y.). The 18 points raised Abraham's season total to 419, which establishes a Robert Morris record for most points in a season by a freshman. Chappell did hold the record with 410 points in 2005-06 … Abraham scored the record-breaking points with a three with 5:45 remaining … Whitehead's 10 points helped give the Colonials a 20-0 edge over the CCSU bench … Whitehead has scored in double figures in five of the past 11 games … Robert Morris was 22-of-26 from the free throw line. That 84.6 percent success rate was their best of the season … The Colonials have won six straight games and nine of their past 10 games against CCSU … Ten of the previous 14 games between Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary's have been decided by six points or fewer. The Colonials are 7-3 in those 10 … CCSU sophomore Robby Ptacek scored a career-high 26 points. "I wouldn't be surprised (if) when it's all said and done he becomes the Player of the Year in this league within the next two years,'' Dickenman said … The Colonials went just over 11 minutes without a field goal in the first half. In that span, they were 0-for-6 from the field and committed seven turnovers … CCSU freshman guard Devan Bailey, who came down with the flu Monday, seemed questionable for the game. He did play but took no shots and scored no points in his 14 minutes … The Colonials are 14-1 when Green scores in double figures, as he did with 10 points against CCSU. They've won the past 13 games in which Green scored in double figures … Senior Rob Robinson managed only three points against CCSU, but he did grab a game-high nine rebounds, had three steals and dished out a couple of assists.
