By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Feb. 17, 2011
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials tonight begin their final trip of the regular season knowing the junket will include a first and a last.
And, they hope, also an eighth.
The "first'' on this trip is coach Andrew Toole's initial appearance as a head coach in his home state of New Jersey. Toole, who went to high school in Lincroft, N.J., grew up about 10 minutes from Monmouth, where the Colonials will play Saturday night.
"It's definitely a neat thing,'' Toole said.
The "last'' on this trip is senior Gary Wallace's final appearance as a college player in his home state of New Jersey. Wallace, from Montclair, N.J., grew up about 20 minutes from Fairleigh Dickinson, where the Colonials will play Thursday night.
"I think it will be bittersweet because it's the last go-round,'' Wallace said, "(but) it's always exciting to go home.''
Thursday evening could be even more exciting for Wallace, and the Colonials, if Robert Morris can get a win over Fairleigh Dickinson. That would mean the Colonials clinched a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the eighth consecutive season.
They also could clinch a tourney berth Thursday night even if they lose. If Monmouth, which hosts Saint Francis (Pa.), and Sacred Heart, which plays at Central Connecticut State, both lose Thursday, the Colonials would be in.
But that's not how the Colonials want it to happen, of course. After beating Saint Francis (Pa.) twice last week to improve their league record to 8-6, they're hoping for a strong finish.
"Hopefully after this past week and winning two games, there's some more excitement about going out and competing and enjoying winning,'' said Toole, whose up-and-down team has won as many as three consecutive games just once this season. "There should be some excitement and some confidence in the guys that, 'Hey, this winning thing is way better than losing.' I would hope that they play with some hunger on Thursday and Saturday.''
Wallace certainly will be pumped for these games, especially Thursday night's. He began focusing on this game as soon as the Colonials finished their game at Saint Francis (Pa.) last Saturday night.
"Right after (that) game, the first thing I said was, 'I'm going home next week, baby,''' Wallace said. "I was just so excited. I'm always excited to go home because I get to see my family. I don't get to see them a lot during the season. I was revved up and ready to go. I'm real excited to get there.
"It's always fun to go back and play at home because there are people I know who go to FDU who will come watch the games. And I have family and friends there, and it's easy for them to come and watch me play. And it's a familiar atmosphere.''
There's also the fun of just being on the road for the Colonials' only senior.
"I tell the guys every day how much I'm going to miss them,'' Wallace said. "I will miss the traveling because that's where a lot of the bonding takes place.''
Wallace was recruited by both FDU and Monmouth but opted to head west and attend Robert Morris.
"I needed a change of scenery,'' he said. "I kind of wanted to get out of Jersey. Nothing against the (FDU and Monmouth) programs, (but) I'd never been outside the state before, and I thought it was a good opportunity to grow outside my home state and learn more about myself and play basketball in a different area.''
Going home to New Jersey has elevated Wallace's game in the past, at least a little.
Over his career, he's averaged 4.9 points a game in games played anywhere except at Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth. But in his six career games at FDU and Monmouth, he's averaged 7.2 points per game. That's helped the Colonials go 5-1 at FDU (3-0) and Monmouth (2-1) during his career.
"I think it's the familiarity with the courts,'' said Wallace, who last season scored 13 points in RMU's 65-50 win at FDU.
Wallace paused, then added with a bit of a sheepish grin: "And being in front of people I know I kind of feel like I can't mess up.''
Wallace naturally would like to have a good game personally Thursday night, but that's not uppermost in his mind.
"The team's success is most important,'' he said. "I could care less whether I score two points or no points. As long as we go in there and get the win and play well as a team and come out with a W -- do what we need to do to get it done -- then I'm as happy as a bird.''
Toole has more ties to Monmouth than he does to Fairleigh Dickinson, which is about 45 minutes from his boyhood home.
Toole grew up a Monmouth fan, and as a teenager he went "to a bunch of games'' at venerable Boylan
Gymasium. He remembers vividly the 1996 NEC championship game.
"Monmouth won,'' he said. "Beat Rider (60-59).''
Toole's mother, Joan Toole, and grandmother, Joan Higgins, still live in the Monmouth area. So do a couple aunts and his brother and sister. His fiancée, Brooke Kelly, has family there, including her parents. In fact, Brooke Kelly's parents went to Monmouth. Toole was boyhood friends with current Monmouth assistant coaches Taj Holden and Chris Kenny.
Toole wasn't recruited by Monmouth, though. But that wasn't a big deal.
"It wasn't like my heart was set on going to Monmouth or that Monmouth was my dream school,'' he said
Instead, Toole played at Elon and Penn and then embarked on his coaching career, and Saturday evening he'll direct his team at Monmouth for the first time as a head coach.
"Absolutely it will mean something,'' Toole said.
The Colonials enter this weekend with a bit of momentum stemming from the two wins against Saint Francis (Pa.) and because they're THIS close to clinching an NEC tourney berth.
The Colonials also know they beat FDU, 83-65, in the Charles L. Sewall Center Jan. 13, then edged Monmouth at home, 60-57, two nights later.
The Colonials surely know that Fairleigh Dickinson is not having a good season. The Knights are 2-12 in the NEC and 4-21 overall. They've lost nine consecutive games and have lost 18 of 19 games since beginning the season 3-3. Finally, they've lost their past 12 NEC games.
Monmouth has fared marginally better. The Hawks still have a chance to get a spot in the NEC tourney after beating FDU twice last weekend. But they're still 4-10 in the NEC and 8-18 overall.
All of that means this could be a "trap'' weekend for Robert Morris.
"In some ways it can be because we beat both teams and because they haven't had the greatest of seasons,'' Toole said, "but I would hope at this point in time we've realized that we're not good enough to overlook anybody or think that we've accomplished anything yet.''
However, the Colonials do seem to have realized that they can accomplish something this season. If they finish strongly, they might be able to secure a home game in the first round of the conference tournament and possibly make a run at a third consecutive NEC championship.
Their enthusiasm in the timeout huddles during the final minutes of the game at Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday night was encouraging to Toole.
"Guys were coming into timeouts saying, 'We can't afford to lose any more games this year. We have to finish it out. We have to get a stop. We have to do this. We have to do that. This is it! This is it!''' Toole said.
Toole also was pleased with the Colonials' offense.
"We shared the ball,'' he said. "We didn't care who shot the ball as long as it was a good shot, a high percentage shot. If we can take that attitude into our remaining games, I think we're a much more dangerous team than a team that says, 'Aw, well, Karon (Abraham) isn't scoring today.' Or, 'Russell (Johnson) didn't make a shot today.' Or, 'Velton (Jones) turned it over.' And 'Boo-hoo. Forget it.' It was like they said, 'Keep running offense and let's get a great shot and it can be from anybody.'''
The Colonial shooting statistics from those two games reflected that unselfishness.
Robert Morris shot 52.2 percent from the field in the Saint Francis (Pa.) game at the Sewall Center, then followed that with a 55.1 mark in Loretto.
It was the first time this season the Colonials shot 50 percent from the field in back-to-back games.
"I feel the last two games were our two most patient offensive games of the year, and I think it was the first time in a long time that nobody cared who shot or scored,'' Toole said. "Maybe it was just us finally turning the corner and maturing as a team and realizing that the most important thing is winning games and kind of following our formula offensively and defensively and not necessarily worrying about individual statistics or shot attempts or things like that. That whatever you need to do to win the game is what you need to do and everything else is secondary.''
NEC NUGGETS: The Colonials will play the NEC's two lowest-scoring offenses this weekend. FDU is 11th with a scoring average of 62.9 points per game against league teams, while Monmouth is 12th at 61.7 … FDU shoots 31 percent from beyond the arc against league teams, which ranks 10th in the NEC. The Knights are last in the league in three-point defense at 38.3 percent … Monmouth has played an NCAA-high 16 games decided by five points or fewer this season. The Hawks are 5-11 in those 16, including 1-7 in eight NEC games … Guard Elton Roy, who began this season with Robert Morris but left school in mid-December, has enrolled at Paris Junior College in Texas … Forward Brad Piehl, who played in the Colonials' NCAA game against Villanova last season before transferring to Division II Findlay, could play in another NCAA Tournament this season. Piehl averages 18.3 minutes, 6.6 points and 4.0 rebounds a game for the Oilers, who are 21-1 and ranked third in Division II. Piehl has played in all 22 games, starting eight.
