By Paul Meyer
www.RMUColonials.com
Feb. 23, 2013
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - Here's a situation update for you as you prepare to attend the Robert Morris University Senior Night game against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
In RMU's four-game push for the top seed in the Northeast Conference Tournament, it's one win down because two three's went down.
OK, those two huge treys by Karvel Anderson in a 50-second span late in Thursday night's game against Monmouth weren't the only reasons the Colonials prevailed, 77-65.
But, my gosh, they sure helped erase the tension that had been building.
The Hawks, desperately trying to keep their NEC Tournament hopes alive, had pecked away at what had once been a nine-point Colonial lead early in the second half, capitalizing on RMU turnover after turnover to get to within 64-61 with 3:43 remaining.
Then Anderson struck.
Hampered by a sore wrist on his right (shooting) hand, the junior had seemed loathe to shoot during the game, especially from beyond the arc. He constantly flexed his wrist and had an ice bag on it occasionally while on the bench.
However, with 3:10 left, he took a pass from Anthony Myers-Pate and buried a three from just to the right of the circle
The Colonials led, 67-61.
After Myers-Pate came down with a rebound of a Jesse Steele miss at the other end, Anderson took another pass from the backup point guard and drained another trey from almost the same spot as his first with 2:20 remaining.
The Colonials led, 70-61, and they could exhale.
Six consecutive made free throws by Myers-Pate later, they could celebrate.
They were in first place in the NEC with three games left in the regular season.
"It was a hard-fought win, and that's what you're going to get at the end of February against a well-coached, competitive team,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said. "Monmouth competes like crazy. We talked about that before the game. They're fighting for their playoff lives. They're starting four seniors. They're going to try and make the game chaotic. It was a well-earned, hard-fought win.''
The victory raised the NEC record for the Colonials to 11-4, which sent them into sole possession of first place, a half-game ahead of Bryant (10-4).
It was achieved by using the area beyond the arc to a distinct advantage. The Colonials matched their season high with 13 trifectas (in 24 attempts) against Monmouth's zone. They repeatedly went to the same spot in the left corner to construct an early 24-14 lead. They made so many treys from that location that one wondered if a cafeteria had been built there.
"Seemed like that was what was open,'' said senior Russell Johnson, who led the Colonials with 20 points. "We run our plays, and we have a lot of options on them. We just look around and see what's going on, and it seemed like that was what was open most of the time.''
Sophomore Lucky Jones also feasted on the trey. He made six of his seven attempts from deep.
"Everybody has their nights," Jones said. "I was fortunate enough that my point guards and my teammates found me. I just finished the job."
"We'd like more balance in terms of (also) getting to the rim," Toole said, "but it's hard to stop guys (from shooting) when they're shooting wide-open shots. Because Monmouth is good at making the game chaotic, you have to be good at moving the ball. I thought we did a very good job of that in the first half, which led to open three-point shots.''
The Colonials made nine of their 17 three-point attempts in the first half. Yet Anderson, a 44 percent shooter from deep, had taken just one three-point shot, which he missed.
Yet with the game very much in the balance late in the second half, it was as if Anderson decided he had to shoot the three. The pain could wait.
"I'm out on the floor and I have to be able to play,'' Anderson said. "You deal with the pain after the game.''
So he made those two huge three-pointers, and that was that.
"My teammates kept telling me to shoot the whole game,'' Anderson said. "I never shy away from the big shot. I always feel like I have confidence in myself to make it. When it's my chance, I step up and try to make it, and if it's not (his chance), I let my teammates do their thing.''
"I just want him to shoot open shots,'' Toole said. "He passed up some open shots during the course of the game that he's got to step up and shoot. Karvel is a terrific team guy and really makes good decisions for his team. Sometimes the best decision he can make for his team is to shoot an open shot. We want him to be aggressive and I guess he got the message.
"He's consistently hit big shots for us coming down the stretch, whether by design or out of broken plays. He's a guy who as a coaching staff we're extremely comfortable with shooting open shots and even semi-guarded shots at times late in shot clocks. I think his teammates feel exactly the same way.''
The feel-good aspects of the Colonials' win did not entirely cover up more blemishes in their full-court press offense. The Hawks, who pride themselves on creating turnovers as a rule, really clamped on the press Thursday night after they knew regular point guard Velton Jones (shoulder) had not dressed.
RMU committed 19 turnovers, which the Hawks turned into 22 points.
"We've been working on press breaks a lot in practice, and we've been getting better day by day,'' Myers-Pate said. "Once Velton gets back, it's going to be easier (for us) to break.''
"Ant (five turnovers) and Russell (six) combined for a large chunk of our turnovers, but I do think we've gotten better at (press breaking),'' Toole said. "Russell's turnovers were a result of him trying to do too much. Ant's turnovers weren't necessarily against the pressure. They were just some poor decisions in the half-court offense. I do think we've improved. Clearly, we still have work to do. We still have some work to do getting our other guys comfortable. Stephan Hawkins, at 6'9", has to be able to come in and see over the top and make a good decision. Coron Williams has got to do a better job of getting open. He can't allow himself to be taken out when he's going to be a secondary ball handler and be somebody we're comfortable with getting it up the floor. He has to want to get the ball in his hands.''
Myers-Pate offset his five turnovers with those six late free throws, six rebounds and nine assists, one short of his career high.
"I just had to find my guys,'' he said. "I didn't do anything. They made me look good and knocked down open shots.''
Johnson, finishing his senior season in style, continued his run of standout play.
He's averaged 13.7 points per game over his past 11 games and averaged almost six rebounds per game over his past 13 games.
"Just knowing I can do what I can do,'' Johnson said, explaining his senior surge. "Just going out there with a lot of confidence and doing it.''
Johnson had seven rebounds Thursday night, pushing his career total to 704. Only co-leaders Anthony Dickens (1985-90) and Tony Lee (2004-08), both of whom had 751 rebounds, are ahead of Johnson.
"I passed a lot of people here who snatched a lot of rebounds,'' Johnson said. "I'm fortunate to have that. It feels great.''
Lucky Jones continued his spectacular shooting at the Sewall Center. Over his five past home games, he's made 20-of-31 field goal attempts, including an astounding 14-of-17 from deep.
"Impressive,'' Toole said. "He's always had the ability to shoot the ball at a high rate when he has time. He's not great yet shooting it on the move, but when he's spotted up he has the ability to really knock down threes.''
Jones has scored in double figures in 11 of his last 12 games, including his past seven straight. In that 12-game stretch, he's averaged 14.6 points per game.
UP NEXT: Senior Night.
The most intriguing occurrence of Saturday night's game could happen before tipoff.
Does highly respected - and definite fan favorite -- four-year walk-on Treadwell Lewis start his final regular-season home game?
"I'm going to hold you in suspense,'' Toole told the media after Thursday night's game.
"I'm absolutely excited,'' Lewis said. "Over four years, there have definitely been some hard times, but I'm really glad I stuck it out. I don't have a huge impact on the court, but I feel like I've helped the team. It's been a good ride. It's been a privilege and an honor.''
Does Lewis have an idea about the fans' reaction if he's introduced as a starter Saturday night?
"I think they'd be supportive,'' he said. "They've been very supportive of me, and I've appreciated it.''
Fairleigh Dickinson (7-21, 2-13 in the NEC) lost at Saint Francis University, 69-63, Thursday night. The Knights have lost 12 consecutive games. Kinu Rochford had a 21-15 double-double for FDU.
NEC NUGGETS: Bryant easily beat visiting Central Connecticut State, 88-67, Thursday night. The Bulldogs, who lead the NEC against conference opponents in field goal percentage at 50.6 percent, shot 53.3 percent from the field. They were just 5-of-21 from beyond the arc, meaning they made 27-of-39 shots from non-international waters. Dyami Starks led Bryant with 26 points, while teammate Alex Francis contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds. CCSU's Kyle Vinales scored 18 points but was just 6-for-20 from the field ... Mount St. Mary's continued its hot streak by dispatching LIU Brooklyn, 83-71. The visiting Blackbirds led, 52-48, with 12 minutes remaining, but the Mountaineers used a 24-6 run to take control with five minutes left. Rashad Whack's 26 points led Mount St. Mary's, which has won four straight games and six of its past seven. "Your confidence level is so important this time of year,'' Mountaineer coach Jamion Christian told the Carroll County Times. "Ours is obviously at a very high level right now.'' E.J. Reed led the Blackbirds with 25 points. Standout Jamal Olasewere, bothered by foul trouble, played only 20 minutes and had nine points and five rebounds. Mount St. Mary's was 20-of-21 from the free throw line; LIU Brooklyn was 14-for-24 from the chalk ... Host St. Francis Brooklyn edged visiting Wagner, 76-75, on Dre Calloway's layup with two seconds left. Latif Rivers, Wagner's star guard, battled foul problems and scored only 10 points in his 20 minutes. The Seahawks, who host LIU Brooklyn Sunday night, made just 1-of-16 casts from deep ... Quinnipiac won its fifth straight game - and seventh in eight games - by turning back host Sacred Heart, 81-74. "Losing begets losing and winning begets winning and we're on the good side now," Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore told the New Haven Register. The Bobcats were 25-of-29 from the free throw line; Sacred Heart was 5-for-8. "You have to have a lot of good pieces when they outscore you 25-5 at the line,'' SHU coach Dave Bike said. "They outplayed us. Quinnipiac came in here feeling good about themselves, and it's a tough loss.'' Sacred Heart's Shane Gibson scored 36 points (13-of-27 from the field) but none in the final 8:58 ... Saturday's game at the Sewall Center could be the final NEC Saturday night game for Robert Morris - at least for a while. The league has mandated that next season Saturday league games must start between noon and 5 p.m.
