By Paul Meyer
RMUColonials.com
March 28, 2013
Meyer on Morris Link
Moon Township, Pa. - An era in Robert Morris University basketball ended Tuesday night in Providence, R.I.
At the same time, an era of Robert Morris basketball continued.
Yes, the Colonials lost to Providence, 77-68, in the second round of the 2013 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), concluding their season. But their 24-11 finish this season added to a streak of highly successful seasons unparalleled in school history.
Robert Morris is 141-67 (.678) over the past six seasons. Former coach Mike Rice guided them to a 73-31 (.702) mark in the first three seasons, while Andrew Toole led them to a 68-36 (.654) record over the next three.
In five of those six seasons, the Colonials won at least 23 games.
In this stretch, Robert Morris has played in two NCAA Tournament's, two NIT's and one CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT). It's gone 85-23 (.787) in the Northeast Conference, winning at least 12 league games in each season.
And this season, it beat defending NCAA Tournament champion Kentucky, adding the most significant win in program history to its resume.
"It shows a lot about us,'' senior Russell Johnson said. "It shows you have to come ready to play when you see our name on the schedule. It shows we have a lot of toughness and no fear.''
"We know we can play with any team on the court no matter how big the school is or how small it is,'' senior Velton Jones said. "We have a lot of guys who don't have fear in anything.''
That "lot of guys'' certainly includes Johnson and Jones, both of whom played their final games for Robert Morris Tuesday night – marking the end of the Johnson/Jones era.
Johnson scored 16 points and had five steals and three rebounds, while Jones battled foul trouble and scored five points and dished out three assists before fouling out with 3:03 remaining.
Johnson and Jones were part of 91 victories during their careers, tying them with former Colonial Gary Wallace (2007-11) for most wins by a class.
Johnson finished his career with 1,208 points, 14th on the RMU all-time list, and 746 rebounds, which ranks third. Jones ended his career with 1,588 points, fifth on the Colonial scoring chart, and 551 assists, which is second. Jones also set a program record Tuesday night by playing in his 135th game, the most by a Colonial.
RMU coach Andrew Toole called the impacts made by Johnson and Jones "immeasurable.''
"It's incredible the contributions they made,'' Toole said. "I'll miss them as we go forward. They'll be sorely missed, but they won't be forgotten.''
Neither will this season, that included a regular-season NEC championship, a fourth consecutive win against Ohio University, advancement to the second round of the NIT and, of course, that win over Kentucky.
Toole and his staff definitely put another outstanding contribution onto the growing list of achievements by Robert Morris.
Toole Tuesday night recalled something Lafayette coach Fran O'Hanlon told him when he was an assistant under O'Hanlon before coming to Robert Morris.
"Fran said, 'Leave the program better than you found it,''' Toole said. "I think we have.''
The Colonials made a valiant effort at Providence. They led for much of the first half and wound up in a 34-34 tie at the break. That seemed promising because RMU before Tuesday evening was 23-0 when it led (22-0) or was tied (1-0) at halftime.
This time, though, the Colonials couldn't hold serve.
They fell behind, 56-49, with 9:20 left in the second half, went on a 13-5 run over the next three minutes to take their last lead of the season at 62-61 with 6:20 remaining and were still within a point, 65-64, with 3:58 left.
However, Providence (19-14) dominated the final four minutes and ended RMU's season.
"We played as hard as we needed to in order to win,'' Toole said. "We weren't as detailed as we needed to be to win.''
The Colonials gave themselves the opportunity to win by making 11-of-25 attempts from international waters against a team that had limited its opponents to 28.9 percent shooting from deep.
"That was as good a three-point shooting team as we have faced all year,'' Providence coach Ed Cooley said. "You usually lose those double-digit three games, especially in a tournament game. I didn't think a team could hit 11 threes against us.''
Only one other team made double-digit threes in a game against the Friars this season. Brown was 13-of-27 from deep in a 69-68 victory against visiting Providence Dec. 28.
The Colonials' proficiency from deep, however, was negated by their ineptitude on the glass. Providence outrebounded RMU, 43-18. The Friars had 16 offensive rebounds, helping them hold a 10-0 edge in second-chance points.
"You can't win when you're outrebounded, 43-18,'' Toole said. "We tried it, but unfortunately it is what it is. They have experienced players who understand what it takes to go through the grind of a Big East season.''
The Friars also enjoyed a huge edge from the free throw line. Robert Morris was 11-of-15 from the chalk. Providence capitalized on the 27 personal fouls called on the Colonials and went 31-for-36 from the stripe. That's 86.1 percent shooting by a team that entered the game making just 69.2 percent of its free throw attempts.
"It's hard to beat a team when they make 20 more free throws than you do and they go to the line 21 more times than you do,'' Toole said.
Toole, though, wasn't placing any blame on the officials.
"We fouled,'' he said. "I'm not going to lie.''
While Providence moved on to lost at Baylor, 79-68, in the quarterfinals of the NIT Wednesday night, the Colonials returned home to begin planning for next season.
There's a decent chance that next season will mark yet another addition to this era of success.
The Colonials return their top two scorers in Karvel Anderson (12.5 points per game) and Lucky Jones (11.6). Anderson led them at Providence with 18 points. Coron Williams (9.1 ppg) also returns, giving Robert Morris its three top shooters from deep. Anderson (43.9 percent), Jones (42.7) and Williams (41.6) all shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc, helping these Colonials lead the NEC in three-point shooting at 38.1 percent.
Anthony Myers-Pate will succeed Velton Jones at the point guard spot. Myers-Pate, who averaged 5.9 points per game, had seven assists and only two turnovers in his 30 minutes at Providence.
Mike McFadden, who scored 14 points against the Friars, will bring his 8.5 points per game average back next season. He'll get help inside with the return of Lijah Thompson, who missed this entire season because of a preseason knee injury. A season ago, Thompson averaged 7.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.
The McFadden/Thompson duo will give underclassmen Keith Armstrong and Stephan Hawkins more time to develop in the interior.
And let's not forget swing man David Appolon, who had his moments as a sophomore this season.
Look for him, in Johnson's stead, to have a much more significant role next season.
