By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Feb. 26, 2011 

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University Colonials achieved a lot Thursday evening against Mount St. Mary's.

First, they won, 65-57, stretching their winning streak to five games.

Second, they solidified their hold on fourth place in the Northeast Conference.

Third, because Wagner lost at Saint Francis (Pa.), 84-78, the Colonials guaranteed themselves a first-round home game March 3 in the NEC Tournament.

Whew! Maybe it's time for the Colonials to take a deep breath, relax a bit and think about what they've accomplished over the past month.

After all, it was about a month ago that it seemed unthinkable that a team struggling along at 5-5 would wind up with a home game in the first round of the NEC Tournament. Heck, what was conceivable back then was that this Colonial team might not even qualify for the NEC Tournament.

But now here this team is at 11-6.

Way to go, guys!

Uh, except the "guys'' will have none of that.

"We have to stay on attack,'' sophomore guard Velton Jones said. "We can't relax. That's why we're in the position we're in now. We would win a game and relax. We have to stay on attack. There's no relief that we just got a home game. We have to keep playing.''

There's little doubt, though, that a month ago this team might have relaxed at this point.

"It's not, 'Might have.' We did,'' senior Gary Wallace said.

And seemed headed for a fitful finish to the regular season - and perhaps to the season period.

"I think a lot of people a month ago counted us out, which was crazy,'' Jones said. "We're a good team.''

The Colonials have demonstrated that with their five-game winning streak and their rise in the NEC standings - which might not be done.

"Let's see what else we can do,'' head coach Andrew Toole said. "Let's come out Saturday and play as well as we can play.''

Ah, yes. There is a game left in the regular season. If the Colonials win that game against Wagner at the Charles L. Sewall Center - and if third-place Central Connecticut State loses at league-leading Long Island Saturday - Robert Morris will wind up with the third seed in the NEC Tournament.

Not too shabby.

"We know we still have to take care of business Saturday,'' said Wallace, who will be honored before the game on Senior Night. "We have to take advantage of what happened (with CCSU losing Thursday night) and get the job done on Saturday because that's going to be another war.''

The game at Wagner Jan. 6 certainly was a tough one for RMU.

The Seahawks, energized by first-year coach Dan Hurley, were nothing like the Wagner team that finished 5-26 overall and 3-15 in the NEC last season. That day, Wagner jumped ahead 11-4 in the first seven and-a-half minutes and held a 27-18 lead with 3:38 left in the first half.

However, the Colonials steadied in the second half and gained the lead, holding a 60-56 edge with 2:59 remaining. They still led 63-61 with 20 seconds left when Wagner freshman Latif Rivers missed a three-point attempt. Had the Colonials secured the rebound, drawn a foul and made a couple free throws, they probably would have won.

As it was, Wagner's Josh Thompson got the rebound, drew a foul and made two free throws. That tied the game at 63, and Wagner won, 83-78, in overtime.

"We should have won the game,'' Jones said. "We played terrible in the first half, and then in the second half we're still in the game and it came down to one rebound, so we feel like we owe them.''

"One of the things that stands out (about that game) was we weren't ready to start the game,'' Toole said. "I don't think our guys understood how different a team this Wagner team is. I don't think they understood the defensive intensity they play with, the physicality they play with, the way they execute their offense.

"We talked about it leading up to that game, but I thought we were kind of surprised at it when the game started. We got hit and knocked back on our heels. We rallied and were able to take a lead and then weren't able to finish the game out. I think that was the eye-opener for our guys - how much improved and how much harder this Wagner team plays than some of the Wagner teams of the past two or three years.''

It's well worth noting that in the game at Wagner the Colonials received 32 points from sophomore guard Karon Abraham, who won't be available Saturday night. Abraham sustained a partially torn Achilles tendon in the Monmouth game Feb. 19. He'll have surgery Monday morning and then faces a rehab stint that could last as long as six months.

All Abraham could do Thursday night was cheer for his teammates against Mount St. Mary's, and they responded with a gritty effort.

"I thought it was a great team effort,'' Toole said. "Being without Karon is something we're going to have to get used to. I'm very proud of the way the guys shared the ball, the way they grinded out stops and rebounds and played as a team.''

There were a lot of reasons why the Colonials beat Mount St. Mary's Thursday night.

One was their defensive play against Mountaineer standout Shawn Atupem, who entered the game averaging 15.2 points and shooting 72.7 percent from the field in his previous five games. Hampered by foul trouble, the senior forward against the Colonials mustered just two points, those coming two minutes into the game, and took only three shots. He played 24 minutes and fouled out with 1:40 left.

"We know if he gets going, it gets harder to stop everybody else on their team, so we wanted other guys to beat us,'' Wallace said.

"Shawn Atupem is tough,'' Jones said. "He's a very, very good player. We just tried to stop him from doing what he's been doing.''

"The fouls definitely helped us with that,'' Toole said. "We did a good job on him when he was in the game, but I don't think he was ever really allowed to get into much rhythm.''

The Colonials had their own foul situation to handle.

Inside presence Lijah Thompson picked up his second personal foul less than two minutes into the game and played only three minutes in the first half. However, Thompson supplied 10 points while playing 12 minutes in the second half. Thompson's 10-foot jump hook with 6:15 left gave the Colonials a 53-42 lead.

Redshirt freshman Coron Williams started in Abraham's stead and supplied nine points.

"I knew I had a big role,'' Williams said. "I had to go in and score the ball. That's been my role this year - score.''

Williams was quite a scorer in high school in Midlothian, Va. Before Thursday's game, he dug out a DVD highlight reel from his junior season. And with Nas and Lil Bow Wow in the background, Williams watched himself.

"I thought it might help me out,'' Williams said. "I think it really did.''

Any move in particular stand out?

"I gave somebody a little between the legs spin and shot,'' Williams said. "It looked nice. Explaining it, it doesn't sound like anything, but you have to see it.''
Jones contributed 12 points, including 10 in the first half. Wallace added nine points - seven in the second half.

"The coaches wanted me to be more offensive-minded,'' Wallace said. "In the first half, I didn't do that as much as they wanted me to, so in the second half I took a deep breath and kind of relaxed and took the shots they gave me.''

Russell Johnson had 10 points, getting his final four on free throws in the last 18 seconds to help the Colonials seal the deal.

Freshman Anthony Myers chipped in seven points and six rebounds. And he had two assists, raising his season total to 107. That breaks the program record for most assists by a freshman in a season. Samba Johnson had 106 in 1992-93.

"The Colonials also played some defense in each half, something Toole doesn't prefer doing.

"But I think it might be something that we might have to go to at times because of guys playing extended minutes or guys getting in foul trouble - as long as we're active in it,'' he said. "My biggest fear with a zone is that when guys hear 'Zone' they think it means 'Relax.' I thought our zone (against Mount St. Mary's) was very active with hands, with communication, with movement. When you do that, you give somebody a different look that can kind of help you change the tempo of the game, and I thought it did that for us.''

It all added up to a solid win that puts the Colonials in position to accomplish even more Saturday night.

"Maybe the light bulb's gone on,'' Toole said. "I think a lot of the things that we're saying as a coaching staff now we were saying in October, November, December, January. We tried to impart to them the idea that opportunities don't just come around every day. You don't have chances to get games back. You only get one chance to win the game at Wagner or to beat Central Connecticut State and have a tie-breaker or to play Quinnipiac in the regular season and I don't know if (the players) always understood that. I think now they're starting to understand that every possession's important, every game's important, and you can't allow any type of relaxation to occur. If you do, then you're going to get exposed.''

Wallace thought about the Colonials' situation a month ago - and where they stand now.

"I think we saw what it would take to do it night in and night out,'' he said. "At the beginning of the NEC season, I don't know if guys realized what we were going to have to do every single night and didn't realize how hard it was to do it every single night. Now I think guys are realizing that when we give it our all and go all out we're successful. I think we're accepting our roles better and guys are just communicating with each other. I think that plays a big part in our success.''

UP NEXT: Before they tip off Saturday night, the Colonials will know the outcome of the Central Connecticut State/Long Island game, which starts at 2 p.m. Long Island won the first game between the teams this season, 72-67, at CCSU Jan. 8. Long Island trailed 35-29 at halftime but was 15-of-22 from the field in the second half.

Wagner is 5-8 since winning its first four NEC games. The Seahawks have lost three straight games, including two close losses at home last weekend against Long Island and St. Francis (N.Y.). At St. Francis (Pa.) Thursday night, the Seahawks had a 32-24 lead late in the first half, but the Red Flash took control midway through the second half and never was in much danger thereafter.

"I thought we played well for a while,'' Hurley told the Staten Island Advance, "but it seemed like we ran out of steam. I think there were residual effects from last week. We had so much invested in those games both emotionally and mentally. We played really well in two games against two good teams, and we didn't get the results we wanted.

"We stopped thinking in terms of where we were going to finish and where we'd be seeded for the tournament after those games. I think since then it's been more about getting guys fresh again and finding a way to get us excited about playing in what should be the most fun part of the season.''

ALEX THE GREAT: Bryant freshman Alex Francis turned in quite the performance at Long Island Thursday night. He scored 43 points in the Bulldogs' 94-85 loss. Francis, who played 34 minutes, scored 25 points in the second half. He was 20-of-27 from the field.

According to NEC Associate Commissioner Ron Ratner, Francis' 43 points, the third-highest single-game total in Bryant history, are the most scored by a freshman in a league game in NEC history. They're also the most scored by a freshman in a Division I game this season, topping the 40 points Ohio State's Jared Sullinger dropped on IUPUI Dec. 9.

Francis' total of 20 field goals is an NEC single-game record. The 43 points ties for ninth on the NEC's all-time single-game list and are the most scored by an NEC player in a game since Long Island's Antawn Dobie set the league record with 53 points against St. Francis (N.Y.) Feb. 22, 2003.

NEC NUGGETS: Will Felder led Saint Francis (Pa.) past Wagner with 30 points and 13 rebounds. "Felder was unguardable for us,'' Hurley said. Felder was 12-of-19 from the field in the win that clinched the eighth and final spot in the NEC Tournament for the Red Flash … Wagner, usually a great free throw shooting team, was just 11-of-20 from the stripe in Loretto … Long Island made 13 of 27 from international waters to offset Francis' spree. Michael Culpo, who was 6-of-8 from deep, had 22 points off the bench, while freshman guard Jason Brickman contributed 11 assists … Fairleigh Dickinson's Terence Grier also had a big night. He scored 34 points in the Knights' 85-74 win at Sacred Heart … Quinnipiac fended off Monmouth, 64-59. Justin Rutty had a true double-double for the Bobcats - 17 points and 17 rebounds … Ricky Cadell had a double-double of a different kind while leading St. Francis (N.Y.) past visiting CCSU 75-65. Cadell scored 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. . .CCSU, which had 24 turnovers, got 27 points and 12 rebounds from Ken Horton.