By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Jan. 22, 2011 

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - There have been several points during this uneven Robert Morris University season where optimism has turned to pessimism and then optimism has sprung back quickly.

Where the thought emerges that this young Colonial team might be pretty good after all, followed by another thought that, well, maybe this young Colonial team really is too young, only to be followed by the thought that, OK, maybe this team will be all right.

This young Colonial team seems to be at another of those troublesome points now.

Remember back when the Colonials opened the season with an easy victory against Saint Peter's? RMU then moved out to a 14-point lead at Kent State in their very next game.

Only to lose that 8 a.m. game by three points.

Three nights later, however, the Colonials beat Duquesne.

Then scoring leader Karon Abraham was suspended for four games for violating team rules. Even so, the Colonials held off Long Island to win by a point in their Northeast Conference opener on the road.

Only to lose two days later at St. Francis (N.Y.) after leading by four points with about a minute left.

A couple weeks later, the Colonials endured a three-game losing streak but ended that spiral with a come-from-behind victory at Ohio University.

Then they lost in overtime at Wagner but two days later got a much-needed NEC win at Mount St. Mary's.

That win in Emmitsburg started a three-game winning streak that moved the Colonials into a position to play the rematch with Long Island Thursday night with a chance to move into a first-place tie in the NEC.

But then? Poof. Again.

Robert Morris led, 33-31, at halftime but collapsed in the second half and went down hard, 83-67. It was the Colonials' worst regular-season NEC loss at home since 2004.

"They kicked our (butt),'' coach Andrew Toole said. "That's embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing.''

So here the Colonials are again. At a crossroads. Instead of being 5-2 in the NEC and tied for first place, they're 4-3 and lumped in with six other teams that are either 4-3 or 3-4.

Where do these Colonials go from here?

"We have to figure it out,'' Toole said. "I don't know if there is an exact solution. Sometimes we come out and we look like we're invincible. And then other times we come out and look like it's a rec game.''

The Colonials and their fans don't have to wait long to learn which RMU team will show up next. Robert Morris hosts St. Francis (N.Y.) at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday night.

"You have a chance to right the wrong,'' Toole said. "You get to come out focused on Saturday and hopefully you can kind of turn the page a little bit and get a better feeling going.''

Again.

It would seem a bit imperative that the Colonials "get a better feeling going'' Saturday night. They play two games on the road next weekend.

To head into those games at Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart in a good place they'll have to play Saturday night with more focus and more energy and more toughness than they displayed in the second half Thursday night.

"We just played terrible in the second half,'' guard Velton Jones said. "We came out in the second half with no focus, no energy. We shouldn't have lost that game. It's a game we should have won. The difference was rebounding. That's all. That's how they won the game. They rebounded the ball. That's it.''

The Blackbirds did outrebound RMU, 23-15, in the second half. And they did outscore RMU, 17-5, in second-chance points in the second half.

"They just wanted it more,'' Toole said. "A shot went up, we stood. They sprinted to the ball. A shot went up, they crashed (the glass). They got the rebound. They scored. They missed, they got it again. They drove in the gap, they kicked (the ball out). They had shooters that were ready to step up and make shots. We drove in the gap and kicked (the ball out) and Gary Wallace dribbled it back out. That doesn't really help anybody.''

But it wasn't only the rebounding.

For one thing, there was the game-long defensive pressure applied to Abraham by LIU guards C.J. Garner and primarily David Hicks. Abraham, hampered by foul trouble that caused him to play only 21 minutes, finished with just six points. He was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.

Think about that.

In his previous five games, Abraham averaged 23 points per game. And in those five games he was 24-of-42 (57 percent) from deep.

Against Long Island, though, he was pretty much a non-factor.

"We made him work certainly for everything he got, and that was the game plan going in,'' LIU coach Jim Ferry said. "You have a special player in Karon who if you give him any space, it's in the basket. We went after him. The game plan was kind of to wear him down, and I thought (Garner and Hicks) did a very good of that. I think David Hicks is one of the best defenders in this league.''

Did Hicks and Garner frustrate Abraham?

"I actually frustrated myself,'' Abraham said. "Instead of just sticking with what I know and being poised and patient, I tried to rush things and got out of sync with the team and that can't happen. I wasn't doing my job to get open.''

This wasn't the first time Abraham struggled against the Blackbirds. In two games against them last season, he was a combined 4-of-14 from the field (3-of-9 from beyond the arc) and scored a total of 15 points.

Another reason the Colonials lost was the long-range accuracy of Michael Culpo.

In fact, one could say that the capable Culpo was most culpable for RMU's loss.

The junior guard made 5-of-6 three-point attempts and finished with a game-high 19 points while playing 21 minutes. In the Blackbirds' one-point loss to RMU at Long Island Dec. 2, Culpo was 0-for-5 from deep and did not score.

"Mike's just a shooter, man,'' Ferry said. "Whether he misses it or makes it, he still's taking the next couple. What's unique about our team is everybody has a role, and they've all accepted it to a very high level. They all play very unselfishly. You know if you put yourself in position, the ball's going to move and you're going to be open, so get yourself ready to shoot the ball.''

Another annoying aspect of Culpo's performance?

"We're supposed to be good at perimeter defense,'' Toole said. "That's the scary part.''

Toole paused, then continued.

"But what wasn't the problem?'' Toole said. "That was a game for men, and we looked like boys. We talked about this game as a chance for us to get into first place. We clearly don't deserve to be in first place. LIU is much, much better than we are. As big a game as it was, for us not to have come with better focus or better energy or better intensity … ''

Another pause. And then more from Toole.

"One of the things I think about our group is that we're a competitive group and we usually rise to the challenge, and I don't think we did that (against Long Island),'' Toole said. "Time and time again, Karon stood and watched. Russell (Johnson) stood and watched. If those guys stand and watch, we have no chance. Those guys are supposed to be our leaders. They're supposed to be the guys who set the tone for our team. And now they stand and watch and it's like what is everyone else going to do?

"Lijah (Thompson) wasn't ready to play. I have to imagine there were four or five opportunities where he could catch the ball and score in the beginning of the game and he didn't. You have to score. If (our) guys talk about wanting to be a championship team and talk about wanting to go back to the NCAA Tournament, you have to score on those plays. You have to finish those plays. You have to step up and get rebounds. You have to play at a championship level.

"We have some good talented young kids who need to learn what it takes to be a championship team.''

The Colonials Saturday night have another class in that course.

And - oh, yeah - they also face another turning point.

ABOUT THE LIU LOSS: The 16-point loss to the Blackbirds' was RMU's worst to an NEC team in a regular-season home game since another 16-point loss (74-58) to St. Francis (N.Y.) Jan. 12, 2004. One has to go back to Jan. 25, 2003 to find a larger deficit, 21 points (101-80) to Wagner.

The Colonials have lost by more than 16 points to an NEC team at home between that 2004 game and Thursday night's tussle. They lost by 18 to Mount St. Mary's, 83-65,March 9, 2008 and by 17 points to Mount St. Mary's again, 78-61. Both those losses occurred in NEC Tournament games.

UP NEXT: St. Francis (N.Y.) lost at Saint Francis (Pa.), 75-56, Thursday night after leading, 31-26, at halftime. The Terriers were just 6 of 26 from deep. Stefan Perunicic was 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. Ricky Cadell led the Terriers with 16 points. Umar Shannon scored 20 for the Red Flash.

The Terriers are 1-7 on the road.

BRYANT? BRYANT: Long Island has won eight consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NEC. Which team has the second-longest winning streak? Bryant, which has won four straight.

Yep, that Bryant team that last season was 1-29 overall and 1-17 in the NEC.

Bryant (6-13, 4-3) pushed its streak to four with a 74-71 win against visiting Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday on Frankie Dobbs' trey with 2.5 seconds left. Dobbs scored 25 points.

Bryant, continuing its transition to full Division I status, isn't eligible for the NEC Tournament until 2012-13, but it's making life tough for some of the NEC teams that are.

Long Island was the last team to beat the Bulldogs, winning at Bryant, 75-55, Jan. 6.

"We went into Bryant and we beat them pretty good and I saw the look on those kids' faces,'' Ferry said. "I'm shocked that they bounced back as well as they did in regards to the way they played against us. They have some pretty good basketball players, and they're well coached. They're absolutely better than last year.''
Bryant visits Robert Morris Feb. 3.

NEC NUGGETS: Abraham's six-point performance against LIU ended his streak of 11 consecutive double-figure scoring games against NEC teams dating to last season. In that stretch, he averaged 17.5 points per game … Quinnipiac, again playing without inside force Justin Rutty (elbow), lost at Wagner, 90-80, Thursday. Wagner attempted more free throws (44) than field goals (38). Wagner freshman Latif Rivers scored 30 points and was 12 of 12 from the foul line, where's 72 for 76 (94.7 percent) this season. Wagner was 36-of-44 from the stripe, while Quinnipiac was 28-of-42 … Host Mount St. Mary's had only eight free throw attempts (and made five) while beating Sacred Heart, 61-45 … Monmouth, which plays at Bryant Saturday, lost to visiting Central Connecticut State, 66-47. CCSU's Ken Horton had 28 points and 14 rebounds in a game in which only 17 personal fouls were called on the Blue Devils (nine) and the Hawks (eight). Those infrequent whistles resulted in a total of just 20 free throws in that game, compared to the total of 86 attempts in the Quinnipiac/Wagner foul fest … Monmouth's 7'1'' Phil Wait, who entered the game averaging only 4.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per NEC game, had 14 points and 14 rebounds.