By Paul Meyer
RMUColonials.com
Feb. 16, 2013

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - Well before the Robert Morris University game at Quinnipiac tipped off Thursday night, events began unfolding in the Northeast Conference that could have produced some kind of neat evening for the Colonials.

Fourth-place Sacred Heart would be without Phil Gaetano, its only real point guard who averages 7.7 assists per game, against visiting Saint Francis University, which built an early comfortable lead.

The second-place Colonials, who thought they'd be without banged up point guard Velton Jones at Quinnipiac, discovered the senior would give it a go.

First-place Bryant quickly learned at Mount St. Mary's that Mountaineer guard Sam Prescott had embarked on a career game, meaning the Bulldogs would face an uphill struggle.

The Colonials, perhaps energized by Jones' presence, zipped to an 18-4 lead in the first six and-a-half minutes in Hamden, Conn.

If all this stuff held up, the Colonials would be in first place by evening's end.

Alas.

Oh, Sacred Heart did feel the effects of Gaetano's absence and lost to the Red Flash, 64-60.

"We just can't get out of our own way,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Colonials, who had done just enough stuff correctly that this seemed a winnable game.

"Very much so,'' Toole said.

A couple of things leapt off the stat sheet.

One, the Colonials, shooting 74 percent from the free throw line this season, were just 5-of-13 (38.5%) at the line Thursday night, their worst chalk performance since they went 4-for-11 (36.4%) in a 74-53 loss at Pitt Nov. 23, 2010. Junior Mike McFadden, a 65 percent free throw shooter, was 3-for-9, including 1-for-7 after making his first two Thursday night.

Then there was Quinnipiac's rebounding edge. Granted, the Bobcats are a great rebounding team. Toole stressed that before the game, saying the Colonials had to "have a brawl mentality'' on the glass.

"We did a good job in the first half,'' Toole said. "In the second half, they absolutely pummeled us on the glass. At times, we had guys just standing and watching.''

Quinnipiac finished with a 45-25 rebounding edge, including a 29-12 spread in the second half. That second-half effort helped give the Bobcats a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points in the second 20 minutes.

That pretty much negated RMU's turnover bonanza. Quinnipiac had 23 turnovers, 15 off Colonial steals, and lost the points-off-turnovers stat, 27-15.

Jones, whose shoulder has bothered him for about a month, didn't practice all week and wasn't dressed for the game. However, about 15 minutes before tipoff he told Toole he felt he could play.

"He's just competitive and wants to play,'' Toole said.

Jones did play 28 minutes but managed only six points and was 3-for-13 from the field. He did hand out six assists.

"There's not a player in my six years (at Quinnipiac) that I have more respect for than Velton Jones," Bobcat coach Tom Moore told the New Haven Register. "We haven't come across a combination of toughness and talent (like) him. It's like he's been there for 10 years. He's got the heart of a champion, and you're really nervous when he's involved in a play because he's hit so many big shots against us. That kid was playing on one arm, so that was a valiant Robert Morris effort for him to do that as a senior.''

Toole said Friday afternoon that Jones has indicated he probably won't be able to play Saturday at Sacred Heart, but we shall see about that.

Russell Johnson led the Colonials with 16 points, but he was limited in the second half because of foul trouble. Lucky Jones and Coron Williams each scored 12 points. Karvel Anderson, whose normal accuracy from beyond the arc might have made a difference, took only two shots, missing his only deep attempt, and had three turnovers in his rather desultory 15 minutes on the court.

The Colonials did what should have been meaningful job defensively in the second half, holding the Bobcats to 36 percent shooting from the field.

But in the end it had no positive impact.

"For a team to shoot 36 percent and be able to beat us is a shame,'' Toole said.

Especially when one looks at all the other stuff that happened in the NEC Thursday night and what that might have meant for the Colonials.

INSUR-MOUNT-ABLE: Prescott, a junior transfer from Marist, got going quickly against Bryant. He scored 18 points in the first 9:40 and had 28 points by halftime - matching Bryant's total in the first 20 minutes. He finished with 44 points, the highest total by a player in an NEC game since LIU Brooklyn's Antawn Dobie set the league record with 53 points in the Blackbirds' 142-140 double overtime loss at St. Francis Brooklyn Feb. 22, 2003.

Dobie in that game was 15-for-25 from the field, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, and made 18 of his 20 free throw attempts. He also dished 15 assists.

Prescott, making only his second start for the surging Mountaineers, was 16-of-24 from the floor, including 10-of-14 from deep. He tied the school record with his 10 three-pointers and set a school record (Division I) for most points in a game.

"You don't hear anything,'' he said. "The man who's guarding you is a blur. It didn't matter who came out there. Tonight was just my night.''

It also was Kyle Vinales' night. The Central Connecticut State sophomore scored 42 points in the Blue Devils' 101-82 loss at Wagner. Vinales was 12-for-24 from the field, including 8-of-13 from international waters. He also was 10-of-13 from the free throw line.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, this was the first time two players in the same conference scored more than 40 points on the same day since March 1, 2008 when Boston College's Tyrese Rice and Virginia's Sean Singletary did it. Rice scored 46 points in the Eagles' 90-80 loss to North Carolina; Singletary scored 41 in the Cavaliers' 95-93 loss at Miami.

UP NEXT: Sacred Heart's offense did not run smoothly without Gaetano against the Red Flash Thursday night. The Pioneers shot just 36.8 percent from the field and made only 3-of-10 shots from beyond the arc. The Pioneers' 60 points against Saint Francis University represent their season low in a league game. Shane Gibson scored 26 points and had eight rebounds for the Pioneers. Teammate Louis Montes had 13 points but was 5-of-16 from the floor.

The Red Flash, 3-21 this season, led, 30-16, with 6:44 left in the first half, but Sacred Heart rallied to forge a 32-32 tie at the break. SFU staved off the Pioneers by making four free throws in a nine-second span in the final minute. Earl Brown had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Saint Francis.

NEC NUGGETS: Despite being down 42-28, at halftime, Bryant scored 14 points in the first 3:02 of the second half to pull to within six points of Mount St. Mary's but got no closer. The Mountaineers were 17-of-33 from beyond the arc, setting a school record for most made three-pointers in a game. Alex Francis had a 25-10 double-double for Bryant, although he made only 3-of-11 free throw attempts. Mount St. Mary's, which received a career-high 11 assists from Julian Norfleet, has won four of its five games since losing at Robert Morris Jan. 26 ... LIU Brooklyn won at Monmouth, 80-66, overcoming 24 turnovers. Jamal Olasewere scored 23 points and C.J. Garner added 20 for the Blackbirds. Ed Waite led the Hawks with 24 points, but standout guard Jesse Steele managed only eight points. He was 4-of-14 from the field, including 0-for-6 from deep. The Hawks made just 2-of-19 casts from deep and were 10- of-18 from the free throw line ... In its cruise past Central Connecticut State, Wagner shot 61.4 percent from the field and made 22-of-26 free throw attempts. Sophomore Marcus Burton led the Seahawks with 23 points off the bench ... St. Francis Brooklyn won easily at Fairleigh Dickinson, 85-61, going 25-of-28 from the chalk. Akeem Johnson led the Terriers with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Kinu Rochford had a 20-16 double-double for the Knights ... Quinnipiac's game at Central Connecticut State, postponed Feb. 9 because of the Nemo storm, will be made up Feb. 25.