Moon Township, Pa. - Head coach Coach Andrew Toole, along with his Robert Morris University Colonials, had a rather significant problem Thursday evening at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

They had to play Sacred Heart knowing they'd be without standouts Velton Jones and Karvel Anderson, their two leading scorers who average a combined 24 points a game. Jones is sidelined because of head injury, Anderson because of a foot injury.

So what was a coach to do?

Happily, Toole had solutions to this problem.

One was right in front of his eyes. Jeremy Chappell and Jimmy Langhurst, two key members of the Colonials' 2009 Northeast Conference championship teams, happened to be in attendance. Toole could have said, "Hey, guys, get dressed. I'll check with the league and the NCAA about your eligibility and let's go get those Pioneers!''

Four seasons ago, Chappell and Langhurst averaged a combined 27 points a game. Certainly that would make up for Jones and Anderson being sidelined.

The makeshift Colonials came together and defeated Sacred Heart, 66-62, extending RMU's winning streak to three games.

"When we started to prepare for this, we didn't talk about the offensive side,'' Toole said. "We just talked about doing your job defensively and let the offense take care of itself.''

The shorthanded Colonials acquitted themselves admirably defensively, forcing the Pioneers into 14 misses on their 21 three-point attempts and receiving 21 turnovers, including 13 on steals.

"When guys had the opportunity to attack and get a cheap steal, guys took that chance, but that's the way we play,'' said Coron Williams, who had a game-high four steals. "That's what we're supposed to do. It was beneficial tonight. (Phil) Gaetano is really their only point guard. We were able to pressure him and get him a little fatigued and over time the turnovers were going to add up. I think we were able to successfully do that, and that translated into a bunch of steals.''

The Colonials turned those 21 turnovers into 19 points. And that helped them produce four double-figure scorers, remarkable considering they had two double-figure scorers unavailable.

"To get four other guys in double figures, that's an impressive thing,'' Toole said. "Everybody stepped up on offense.''

Lucky Jones and Mike McFadden each had 15 points, while Russell Johnson and Williams each had 10 points. Point guard Anthony Myers-Pate contributed seven points and six assists.

And, OK, let's not forget that David Appolon had six points, remarkably stayed in the game despite picking up his fourth foul with 12:58 left and had one of the most important defensive plays of the game.

Also, while we're at it, let's include freshman Stephan Hawkins, who because of circumstances was the only backup inside player available behind McFadden. Hawkins played 23 minutes and contributed six rebounds, three points, two blocked shots and a steal.

If you've paid attention, that's the seven scholarship players Toole played against Sacred Heart. An eighth, Keith Armstrong, who had missed the first 17 games because of a foot problem, dressed for the first time Thursday night but was scheduled to play only in case of a dire foul-problem situation.

The Colonials lost senior center Lijah Thompson before the season because of a knee injury. Last week, inside presence Vaughn Morgan left the team because of personal reasons.

"No matter how many players we have or how many players are down, the plan never changed,'' Johnson said. "We have to do what we have to do. It doesn't change. In practice we do a lot of different things to help in situations like this. We're very versatile.

"We were kind of prepared for it when we found out Monday (Velton Jones and Anderson) were having problems. We just made sure we got ourselves together and prepared for them not playing. If they do play, it would help, but we prepared ourselves for them not to play.''

"Everybody plays their same role whether we're down a guy or have a full team,'' Lucky Jones said. "We're all interchangeable, and that really helped us tonight.''

"When you talk about teams that are successful whenever they're hit with some type of adversity or they're hit with some type of difficulty they just find a way to persevere and get through the game,'' Toole said. "Guys played out of position. Guys played out of rotation. Guys played extended minutes. Guys played extended rotations. Some guys played more minutes than they're used to, but a lot of guys stepped up and contributed in important ways in order for us to be able for us to grind that win out.''

Four Colonials played at least 30 minutes against Sacred Heart. That had happened in only one other game this season. Four Colonials played at least 30 minutes at Campbell Dec. 4 on a night that Johnson was not available because of an ankle problem.

"Something you hope for as a coach is that you have as many guys as humanly possible that at any point in time can come in and can contribute and understand what you're trying to do," Toole said. "Not only that, but understand what the game plan is and understand how to follow your formula and can go on the court and execute it.''

And execute it energetically.

"We got a lot of the loose balls, and those are sometimes the difference in one- or two-possession games,'' Toole said. "I thought we got some great effort plays from guys.''

Appolon, in particular.

With 2:41 left and the Pioneers steadily erasing what had been a 12-point Colonial lead, Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart's leading scorer, drove the right side of lane, looking to cut his team's deficit to at least three points.

Appolon - and don't forget he had four fouls - read Gibson and set up a few feet in front of him.

"I read him going right and straight to the baseline to try to get a layup,'' Appolon said. "Even though I had four fouls, I said, 'I'm just going to stay here and try to take the charge. If it's a foul, it's a foul on me or a foul on him.'''

Gibson ran into Appolon and put up a shot that went in. However, the play was ruled a charge, negating the basket and ensuing free throw.

"Huge play,'' Toole said.

However, the game was far from over.

The Colonials had a 62-59 lead with 53 seconds remaining and Sacred Heart in possession.

Determined not to let Gibson, a 41 percent shooter from deep, get off a shot, the Colonials doggedly defended him. However, as the shot clock wound down to seven seconds, they missed a defensive switch, and that left Luis Montes wide open from international waters on the left wing.

Fortunately for the Colonials, Montes had made only three of 24 shots from beyond the arc this season when he caught the ball. Even more fortunately for the Colonials, he clanked this one.

"We should not allow that wide open of a shot,'' Toole said. "(But) it was the guy who, I guess, you'd want shooting a wide open, uncontested three. Sometimes those are the easiest shots for guys like that to make because there's no pressure on him. If he misses it, it's like, 'Well, coach, what do you want me to do? I had to shoot it.'''

Williams grabbed that rebound, was fouled and made two free throws. Gibson then did drain a long three from behind the circle, but with 12 seconds remaining, Lucky Jones made two free throws - capping a 9-for-9 evening at the stripe - and that, finally, was that.

"If the other team puts me on the free throw line, I have to convert to support my team, and that's what I did tonight,'' Jones said.

"Guys have to step up,'' Williams said. "Russell's done a great job making sure guys know their matchup, making sure guys are in the huddle and (that) we know what we need to work on. I think Russ has stepped up and done a fantastic job. He's not as vocal as (Velton Jones), but he does a good job helping with the leadership role.''

"It's funny,'' Toole said. "I think when you lose a couple guys there's - I don't want to say it's an excitement - but it's kind of like there's a new challenge to it. There's a new twist to what you have going on, and I think in the short term you can use that to your advantage. Obviously, the longer some of those guys are out, the harder it is to continue to use that to your advantage, but I think in short stretches sometimes you can really rally around that and be successful.''

So how about sitting at least one player for every game to make things a continual challenge, to adding a "new twist'' every night?

"Sounds like it would be really exciting,'' Toole said, smiling. "If I get a lifetime contract, I'll definitely implement it.''

UP NEXT: Quinnipiac (6-11, 2-3) visits the Sewall Center Saturday evening following its 75-66 win at Saint Francis University one of three NEC games that went overtime Thursday night. The Bobcats had a six-point lead with 2:20 left in regulation but didn't hold it. However, they made all six of their free throw attempts in the final 41 seconds of overtime to seal the deal.

Ike Azotam had a 22-10 double-double for Quinnipiac but was outdone a bit by Red Flash sophomore Earl Brown, who also a double-double - 14 points and 18 rebounds. That's six straight double-double games for Brown. The last NEC player to have six consecutive double-double games was Quinnipiac's Justin Rutty, who had seven straight in the 2009-10 season.

The Bobcats grabbed 19 offensive rebounds against St. Francis and turned those into 22 second-chance points.

This season, Quinnipiac is shooting just 29.9 percent from deep, including a 1-for-7 performance in Loretto. The Bobcats are shooting only 64.8 percent from the free throw line, although they were 20 of 24 against the Red Flash.

NEC NUGGETS: Gibson's 27 points against Robert Morris Thursday night raised his career total to 1,753 and moved him into 14th place on the NEC's all-time scoring list ... Chappell currently is playing in the Ukraine. Langhurst last season played in England and is trying to get back into professional basketball overseas ... Bryant (5-0 in NEC play) took a two-game lead with a 79-78 overtime victory against visiting Mount St. Mary's Thursday night. The Bulldogs led, 61-50, with 5:10 remaining in regulation, but Mount St. Mary's freshman Shivaughn Wiggins forced overtime with a basket with 13 seconds left. Shane McLaughlin's only basket of the game with six seconds remaining in overtime won it for the Bulldogs, who have seven straight. Alex Francis scored 25 points for Bryant, hitting 11 of his 12 field goal attempts. Wiggins, who's averaging just 4.2 points per game, had 20 points for the Mountaineers. Things might have gone better for Mount St. Mary's had it not gone 7-for-13 from the free throw line ... In the third overtime game of the evening, LIU Brooklyn won at Fairleigh Dickinson, 79-75. Melquan Bolding had 22 points for the Knights, but he missed the second of two free throws late in regulation, allowing Brandon Thompson to tie it with a three-pointer. Jamal Olasewere produced a 30-16 double-double for the Blackbirds ... Kyle Vinales scored 30 points to lead Central Connecticut State past visiting Wagner, 73-66 ... Monmouth won at St. Francis (N.Y.), 71-67, getting 20 points from Jesse Steele. The Hawks played without leading scorer Andrew Nicholas (14.2 points per game), who was out because of a foot injury. And the Hawks might be without 6'9" sophomore Khalil Brown for a whle. Brown went out with a knee injury with two minutes left. The Terriers made only 11-of-21 from the free throw line and were just 8-for-29 from deep.