Meyer on Morris Link
  
Moon Township, Pa. – Nov. 23, 2013 – Yes, Karvel Anderson was spectacular.
 
No question, too, that Lucky Jones was a decisive force, especially down the stretch when his knee obviously bothered him.
 
Plus, point guard Anthony Myers-Pate was a rock.
 
Let's not forget the Robert Morris bench -- or five guys who did not start the game. Their contributions were huge.
 
But you know what might have been the most impressive aspect of RMU's 88-81 victory against Texas-Arlington Thursday night?
 
Free throws.
 
Yep, free throws.
 
Because just when it seemed the win might be slipping away from the Colonials, they went to the stripe and sealed it.
 
"I'm happy we got the win,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said, "but we definitely find ways to make it interesting.''
 
The Colonials broke from a tie at 67 with 6:20 remaining and carefully constructed a 77-69 lead with 3:22 left -- the final three points in a 10-2 coming on Anderson's eighth three-pointer of the game.
 
However, 25 seconds later RMU's Mike McFadden was called for his fourth personal foul and almost immediately was given a technical foul. He was gone for the evening, and the Colonials' lead seemed in jeopardy of being gone, too.
 
Texas-Arlington's Reger Dowell made two free throws on the technical foul. Jamel Outler made two free throws on the personal foul. With no time having come off the clock, RMU's lead was halved. Thirty seconds later, Dowell made a layup, and the Mavericks trailed by just two points.
 
Desjuan Newton's layup with 1:32 remaining steadied the Colonials a bit. After Dowell, who drilled five trifectas in the second half, finally missed from beyond the arc, Robert Morris had its opportunity.
 
"We had veterans on the floor,'' Jones said. "We just had to finish it.''
 
At that point, the Colonials were just 9-for-14 from the free throw line. But in the final 63 seconds, they made 9-of-10 from the stripe and calmly closed out their third win in five games.
 
Myers-Pate was six for six in that final minute-plus, twice hitting both ends of a one-and-one and then making both shots of a two-shot chance with 12.3 seconds left that ended it.
 
Jones made three of four from the line in that stretch and grabbed the rebound of a Brandon Edwards shot, setting the stage for Myers-Pate's last two free throws.
 
Thus, the evening ended happily for the Colonials, who led, 14-0, just two and-a-half minutes into the game, led by double digits, 41-31, at the break and held the lead much of the second half until that tie at 67.
 
"We know we've got to continue to play hard,'' Jones said. "Our biggest problem is to stay consistent.''
 
Anderson certainly was consistent. He was 8-of-10 from deep and finished with 24 points.
 
"I've been doing a lot of extra work, putting a lot of shots up,'' Anderson said. "Sometimes you really can't take credit for anything. It was just one of those nights. I'm thankful.''
 
"When he shoots and it doesn't go in, guys are surprised,'' Toole said. "When he goes up for a shot, the guys on the bench are putting it on the scoreboard.''
 
Anderson was 6-for-7 from international waters in the first half. In the second half, Dowell had a similar surge from three and wound up with a game-high 26 points.
 
"He had 26,'' Jones said, "but (Karvel) showed him up tonight. It's one thing to try to do everything by yourself, but Karvel looks for his team. He's unselfish. That's the best thing about him. Even if he shot 20 times a night, he still looks for his teammates. He can do that and still get his (points) at the same time.''
 
Jones had an off night from beyond the arc, missing all six of his casts from deep, but he stuffed the stat sheet. He had 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals.
 
"I'm still not playing the way I want to play,'' Jones said.
 
Myers-Pate, who scored only six points total in the first four games, had 10 points thanks to his late free throw accuracy and a game-high nine assists.
 
"My job is to keep my teammates happy, make my team happy,'' Myers-Pate said. "If they're successful, I'm successful. My guys were making shots. They made me look good.''
 
"Right from the beginning of the game, he was engaged,'' Toole said. "Ant sometimes is over-thinking the game. Sometimes he's not thinking at all. We need to find the balance. But he was in here today at 12:15 watching film and never left the building. His desire to do the best job for this team is beyond question.''
 
The five players who didn't start -- junior David Appolon, sophomore Stephan Hawkins and newcomers Jeremiah Worthem, Charles Oliver and Newton -- provided solid collective stats. They combined for 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
 
Oh, and energy.
 
"Energy here is as big a role as anything,'' Anderson said. "We get energy from our bench. We had 10 people playing very well tonight.''
 
Newton in his 17 minutes produced five points, four assists and two rebounds.
 
Oliver scored 11 points, nine of those on three-of-five shooting from beyond the arc. He was especially impressive during a 72-second blitz midway through the second half when he scored eight points to take the Colonials from a 49-45 lead to a 57-47 advantage.
 
Worthem, a freshman, had seven points, six rebounds and an assist.
 
"I told him when he got here, 'Don't worry about seniors, juniors, sophomores or freshmen -- just come here to work,''' Jones said."I told him, 'At the end of the day, whether you start or come off the bench, you still have a role. As long as you're giving us help and flying around, guys are going to look for you.' He has the potential to be a good player here.''
 
Anderson, noting the contributions from the five players who did not start, said: "We're an equal opportunity offense.''
 
"We just have to continue to stay humble,'' Jones said. "That's about it.''
 
NEXT UP: The Colonials play at Cleveland State at 3 Saturday afternoon in their final game in the Keightley Classic. Cleveland State, which gets its shot at Kentucky Monday night, is 2-2. In the Keightley Classic, the Vikings won at Texas-Arlington, 83-73, and lost at Eastern Michigan, 81-69.
 
The Vikings were picked in the Horizon League's preseason poll to finish third in the league behind Green Bay and Wright State. Cleveland State finished 14-18 last season after beginning the season 6-2. It lost at Robert Morris, 71-62, during that start.
 
Bryn Forbes leads the Vikings with an average of 20 points a game. Trey Lewis averages 12.5 points a game, and Charlie Lee checks in at 11.8.