Three's Company: Colonials Hope to Keep Terriers in Check
By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
March 4, 2009
Meyer On Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - March 4, 2009 - As Brian Nash game-planned this week for his St. Francis (N.Y.) team's Northeast Conference tournament quarterfinal game against Robert Morris, one thought kept recurring to the Terrrier coach.
"I hope Mike doesn't change the rims,'' Nash mused.
Good thought, that.
Back on Dec. 4, Nash's team fell in love with the rims at the Sewall Center and "downtowned'' coach Mike Rice's Robert Morris squad 87-79.
Led by freshman Stefan Perunicic, the Terriers made an astonishing 17-of-25 shots from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-6 Perunicic put on an out-of-this-world display, hitting 7-of-11 from deep - most of them of the "How can he do that?'' variety.
"I've seen people make seven threes in a game before, but I've never seen three's made like that,'' Rice said. "Three steps behind the three-point line. Three seconds left on the shot clock. Talk about hot? Holy smokes! And on five of those seven he made we played not good defense but GREAT defense.''
Perunicic had 20 points at halftime and tossed in two more treys in the first four minutes of the second half before settling for a game-high 28 points.
"We were going to name the floor for him,'' Rice said, kiddingly, this week.
Colonial guard Jimmy Langhurst, a top three-point shooter in his own right, was suitably impressed.
"He's got a stroke,'' Langhurst said. "He's tall for the guard spot. He has a quick release - and unlimited range. That was amazing. He made them with guys in his face. The basket was huge for him.''
The top-seeded Colonials (21-10, 15-3) must either hope Perunicic and the rest of the eighth-seeded Terriers (10-19, 7-11) don't stage a reprise Thursday night or do the same job defensively they did against Perunicic and the Terriers in Brooklyn in the rematch, Feb. 5.
In that 61-54 victory, Robert Morris limited the Terriers to 6-of-22 shooting from three-point range. Perunicic was 2-for-7 and had six points.
However, what Rice and his team have to keep in mind is that Nash's Terrier teams have historically shot well at the Sewall Center. Yes, 17-for-25 is incredible accuracy, but in the three previous games at Robert Morris, St. Francis (N.Y.) also shot well from beyond the arc, making 50 percent (29-of-58).
Last season in an 83-78 loss, the Terriers were 7-of-15 from 3-point range. Two seasons ago, while winning 102-97 in double overtime, St. Francis (N.Y.) was 12-of-22 from deep, including a 9-for-13 spree by sophomore guard Jamaal Womack, who had 31 points. And three seasons ago in a 73-71 loss to the Colonials, the Terriers were 10-of-21 from downtown.
"We'll have to shoot the ball well to win (Thursday night), but our guys will have confidence,'' Nash said.
St. Francis (N.Y.) will be without 6-foot-5 guard/forward Kayode Ayeni, who in that December game had 14 points and seven rebounds. Ayeni, who averaged 13.3 points and 8.5 rebounds a game, sustained a season-ending injury soon after that game at Robert Morris.
"He made such a matchup problem for us,'' Rice said. "For those guys to scratch and claw and get wins after that is a credit to Brian and his staff.''
"He's probably one of our better players,'' Nash said of Ayeni, a junior. "After he got hurt, we had to re-tool.''
Sophomore guard Ricky Cadell stepped up offensively. He's averaging 15.1 points a game and has been hot recently. Over his past eight games, Cadell has averaged 21 points a game and shot 52.3 percent from the field, including 44.4 percent from deep.
Womack has not fared so well recently. In his past five games, he's scored only 44 points and made 14-of-56 from the field, including 7-of-31 from beyond the arc.
Since his coming out party at Robert Morris in that NEC opener for both teams in December, Perunicic topped 20 points only once. That was a 23-point effort at Bryant Feb. 19. In three games since, he's scored a total of 29 points and shot 7-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Still ...
"He could be in a shooting slump and it could be his coming out party against us again,'' Langhurst said. "He shot well the last game here. He can shoot over people. But we have Jeremy Chappell (6'3"), who's a taller defender and probably quicker than him.''
The Terriers, in addition to shooting the trey well, are good at defending it, too. They lead the NEC in three-point defense, limiting teams to 32.2 percent from beyond the arc.
"It's not something we preach,'' Nash said, "but Ricky and Jamaal and (reserve Justin) Newton have really good foot quickness. They have the ability to get up on guys.''
Should Robert Morris advance Thursday night - and remember that no eighth-seeded team has beaten a top seed in NEC tournament history - it could play the winner of the game between fourth-seeded Long Island (16-13, 12-6) and fifth-seeded Quinnipiac (14-14, 10-8).
One would think Long Island would have the advantage here. The host Blackbirds are 12-2 at home, including 8-1 against NEC teams.
However, that one home NEC loss was to Quinnipiac - 78-73 on Feb. 21. In fact, Quinnipiac swept Long Island this season, also winning at home 69-63 Jan. 31.
"Both games were very well played,'' Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore said. "Both were played at a high level - terrific offense, terrific defense.''
Quinnipiac was plagued by injuries during the regular season, being able to dress only six healthy scholarship players for a game at Central Connecticut State Jan. 24.
"But the kids maintained a positive attitude,'' said Moore, a longtime assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. "we had some terrific teams at UConn, but I don't know if I've ever had a team I've grown to like so much as this team. It's a neat feeling.''
The Bobcats are led by interior player Justin Rutty, who averages 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds a game against NEC teams, and James Feldeine (15.2 points per game).
Long Island features penetrating guard Jaytornah Wisseh (16.2 points per game) and Julian Boyd, the NEC Rookie of the Year who averages 11.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
"There were a lot of special rookies this year, and it's a great honor for the kid,'' LIU coach Jim Ferry said. "He's had a tremendous impact on our program and enabled us to play the way we want to play.''
The two other quarterfinal games Thursday night match second-seeded Mount St. Mary's (17-12, 12-6) against visiting seventh-seeded Wagner (16-13, 8-10) and third-seeded Sacred Heart (16-13, 12-6) against visiting sixth-seeded Central Connecticut State (13-16, 8-10).
Mount St. Mary's, which advanced to the NCAA tournament last season, will have to contend with 3-point expert Joey Mundweiler, who last Saturday pumped in an NEC-record 11 treys at Monmouth to lead Wagner into the NEC tournament.
"He really was stroking the basketball,'' Mountaineer coach Milan Brown said. "When he makes his first one, his next three or four could be just as easy. We have to make sure his shots are contested. If they're half contested or he has an open look, you can pretty much mark it down.''
Wagner, which was 3-9 after 12 NEC games, changed its defensive approach at that point and won five of its last six games to reach the NEC tourney.
"I think we're in a good place,'' coach Mike Deane said. "Right now, our guys seem to have live legs and live minds. Maybe to have to fight so hard to make the tournament could take something from us, but I think our guys are excited and ready to play.''
Mount St. Mary's is trying to become the first back-to-back champion since Rider in 1993 and 1994.
Sacred Heart, which played in the NEC championship game each of the previous two seasons, is on an offensive roll. The Pioneers, who have won five straight games and 10 of their past 12, have averaged 86 points a game over their past seven games. In that span, they've shot 56.3 percent from the field - topping 60 percent in three of the games - and 49.7 percent from 3-point range - exceeding 50 percent in three of the games.
Can they maintain that?
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed,'' coach Dave Bike said.
Sacred Heart guard Chauncey Hardy missed the final two regular season games because of a wrist injury, but he did practice Tuesday.
"We'll see what happens,'' Bike said.
Central Connecticut State is in the NEC tournament for the 11th consecutive season, the longest current streak in the league. Coach Howie Dickenman, however, is puzzled by his team that lost five of its last six NEC games, including a 101-67 blowout loss at home to Sacred Heart.
"I have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers,'' Dickenman said. "One question is why we're not defending the three better.''
In the past five games, CCSU opponents have shot 44.7 percent from beyond the arc.
"I don't know if we're tired,'' Dickenman said. "I don't believe that. There's no reason for kids to be tired.''
The Blue Devils also aren't shooting the three very well. In their past eight games, they've made only 25-of-100 from beyond the arc.
"We're not getting good looks,'' Dickenman said. "And when we do, they're not going in the hoop. That has to turn around for us to have a chance.''
NEC NUGGETS
The NEC's 15-year streak since a repeat champion is the second-longest in the NCAA. The Southland Conference hasn't had a back-to-back champion since Texas Southern in 1992 and 1993 ... Robert Morris is 10th in the league in defending the three, allowing opponents to shoot 38 percent from beyond the arc. However, in the past eight games the Colonials have limited opponents to 34.6 percent shooting from deep ... CCSU ranks 11th in the NEC in three-point shooting (30.3 percent) ... In its past five games, St. Francis (N.Y.) held opponents to 29.5 percent shooting from downtown. Take out sizzling Sacred Heart's 8-of-19 performance and that percentage drops to 26.1 percent in the four other games ... In its 66-54 win at St. Francis (N.Y.) in the regular-season finale, Long Island shot only 28.8 percent from the field but was 33-of-47 from the free throw line ... In losing its last three regular-season games, St. Francis (N.Y.) was 31-of-54 (57.4 percent) from the free throw line.
