Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. – Finally, it's home sweet home for Robert Morris. Or, to be exact, it's home sweet home sweet home sweet home.
 
Back-to-back weeks at home for a team that played only five home games in the first 2 1/2 months of this season and now gets to play four home games in the space of 10 days.
 
Off the court, this respite means …
 
"We get to stay home and continue to do our school work because that's one of the most important things coming down the stretch,'' junior Lucky Jones said.
 
"I think you can really get into a great routine,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said. "I think it should be a time where you know exactly what each day's going to bring for the next two weeks, and I think that that's something that can help us.''
 
On the court, this stretch means …
 
Well, home hopefully sweet home.
 
The Colonials opened their Northeast Conference schedule 4-0. If they're successful during this homestand beginning Thursday night against Sacred Heart and continuing with games against Wagner, Bryant and Central Connecticut State, they could be in a, well, sweet position halfway through their NEC season.
 
"Being able to play at home, usually you should play better at home, a place we haven't been a lot, so it will be nice,'' Toole said. "(But) because I'm a coach, I sometimes (look) at the opposite view.''
 
That means being cautious.
 
"We have to make sure that we stay hungry and that we stay humble,'' Toole said. "We have to say, 'OK, we've done a lot of hard work to get to 4-0. Now let's not rest on our laurels. Let's continue to work and try to get better. Let's continue to try to improve and let's not waste some of the work we've done by not taking care of business at home.'''
 
"We can't lose games at home,'' Jones said. "We have to protect our house. We slipped up during non-conference by letting Toledo sneak out of here with a win. Now, they're a very good mid-major team and probably will win their league, but we cannot lose home games because when you get to the (NEC) tournament then you're not sure if you're going to win at home. So if we take care of home business, who knows? Anything can happen. If we have a great regular season and then we get to the playoffs (and) we have the confidence and we get rolling anything can happen. We have to take advantage of every opportunity we have. This is a great stretch to (play) four good games at home.
 
"We were away (virtually) the whole non-conference. Now we're playing in front of our fans. I've been hearing a little buzz about how proud they are with the way we're doing things this season and staying more consistent. (It will help) having their support. I believe our team is mature, but at the same time I think we need to take practice up a notch, including me. I don't think I had very good practices the past couple of games even though my performances have been solid because I'm just that type of player.''
 
Jones did indeed have a solid performance last Saturday while helping the Colonials win at Mount St. Mary's, 77-69. He scored 16 points, boosting his career total to 960, and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the way on the glass as Robert Morris outrebounded its fourth consecutive NEC opponent.
 
"All of us have to rebound,'' Jones said. "That's what the coaches instilled in us. Every game we have in conference we have to rebound. We're not as big as a lot of teams, but we have to get offensive rebounds and score it or get an extra possession.''
 
Freshman Jeremiah Worthem had a career-high 21 points against the Mountaineers, which helped him win his second NEC Rookie of the Week award. He also won Nov. 25. Thanks to a pair of NEC Rookie of the Week awards at this point, Worthem seems to have a good chance to land a spot on the All-NEC Rookie Team this season.
 
Karvel Anderson supplied 12 points at Mount St. Mary's, giving him 104 points in the first four conference games.
 
"I've been having fun these past few games,'' Anderson said. "I've enjoyed myself, and that's what it's all about. When you start to let the game stress you a little bit, then that wears you down. I'm just going out and having fun and playing free.''
 
The Colonials were not bothered by the Mountaineers' pressing defense, which had been highly effective two days earlier when Mount St. Mary's beat visiting Wagner, 89-80. The Seahawks had 19 turnovers, which led to 34 Mountaineer points. Robert Morris had only 10 turnovers, including just three in the second half, and Mount St. Mary's scored only five points off Colonial turnovers.
 
"It was huge,'' Toole said of his team's poise. "We talked about it going into the game. We talked about it during the game. We talked about it at the end of the game. One of the keys we talked about was how well we'd be able to execute offensively would determine how well we'd be able to play defense. If we were able to take good shots and run offense, that would give us a chance to get back. If we were going to do things uncharacteristic, you know, head-down drive and just throw something up, maybe we wouldn't be able to set our transition defense well. Maybe we wouldn't be able to make them play against our set defense. That was a big thing we talked about, and we were able to execute it and be successful.''
 
"They played well,'' Mountaineer coach Jamion Christian said. "If we can get to 16 turnovers, it's a completely different game and we're not playing against (their) zone at all. It all starts with our defensive pressure. One thing that happens in our style of play (is that) I think you always anticipate going on a 10-0 run. When you play really good teams, it's harder to do that. They did a great job, had a great game plan and they executed their game plan better than we did.''
 
RMU's zone defense limited Mount St. Mary's to just 24.1 percent shooting (7-for-29) from three-point range.
 
"When we're active, it's effective,'' Toole said of the zone. "When you relax -- like with any defense -- you can easily be picked apart.''
 
The Colonials' win in Emmitsburg, Md., was especially satisfying because Mount St. Mary's knocked them out of the NEC Tournament last season, and the Mountaineers figure to be a contender in the NEC this season.
 
"I think Mount is one of the teams that's going to be competing for our league championship,'' Toole said. "I have tons of respect for what (Christian has) done in two years there. They had two great home wins prior to us coming down there in Saint Francis Brooklyn and Wagner, and their style, especially at home, can be something that's difficult to handle on a short turnaround. I thought the way our guys approached the game, the way that they prepared for the game and the way that they executed during the game was really impressive. The second half of the game, we were able to make the game a Robert Morris basketball game more than a Mount St. Mary's game.''
 
The Colonials, as has been noted, were 5-10 in their non-conference schedule. Now they're 4-0 in the NEC. It's almost as if Robert Morris has fielded two different teams this season.
 
"I don't know if it's two different teams,'' Toole said. "I think we're doing things better, and I think we're doing things together more than we were in the non-conference. In the Mount St. Mary's game, nobody talked about not (getting) a shot. Nobody talked about not getting the ball. It was, 'Let's get a team shot.' The Bryant game (Jan. 11) was the same way. Let's figure out a way to get a team shot. I think that's something that maybe in the beginning of the season we would get down by a little bit or things  wouldn't be going our way and they'd think the only way to turn things around was offensively, and now that's not the case. It's some guys figuring it out a little bit. The way we've approached games since Christmas has been with a different purpose and a different understanding of what you need to do to be successful.''
 
In one way, though, Robert Morris is a different team now. Senior Mike McFadden, who didn't play at Mount St. Mary's, has left the program. Coupled with Lijah Thompson's departure before the season began, that means the Colonials' inside game has changed …
 
"Dramatically?'' Toole suggested. "Unfortunately, it is what it is, and that's exactly the way we look at it -- it is what it is.''
 
What it is, is that sophomores Stephan Hawkins and Aaron Tate will have to step up. McFadden averaged 7.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
 
At Mount St. Mary's, Hawkins scored eight points and had three rebounds in his 21 minutes. Tate contributed five points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes.
 
"It gives Hawk a great opportunity,'' Toole said. "It gives Aaron Tate some more opportunity. Those guys have to take advantage of it. You know, you'd love everybody to be completely on board and have your roster not as fluid as our interior roster's been, but you have to go out there and you have to perform, and those guys have to step up and play. We'll see how that develops going forward. Hawk's done well in (McFadden's absence) so far, and hopefully it's something that can allow him to have some more confidence and be more comfortable out there and be more productive.
 
"With Hawk, he just needs to be comfortable. He needs to know, 'OK, this is kind of what my role's going to be and this is what I'm going to get.' I think he's able to settle in a little bit better. When guys were going in and out and (we had) quick substitutions, I think he got a little pressed because he wants to do more to stay on the floor, but he doesn't want to mess up. So now I think he can be a little more at ease knowing that, 'OK, this is what I need to do. This is my responsibility, and I'm the guy who has to go do it.'''
 
UP NEXT: Sacred Heart fell to 1-3 in the NEC with a 74-71 loss at Saint Francis Brooklyn last Saturday. The Pioneers again played without leading scorer Evan Kelley (shoulder). Chris Evans had 14 points and point guard Phil Gaetano had 12 assists, but standout Luis Montes, bothered by foul problems, scored only four points in 19 minutes.
 
Ben Mockford scored 23 points for Saint Francis Brooklyn, hitting seven of eight from deep. Brent Jones had 11 assists.
 
The Colonials won at Sacred Heart, 79-70, Jan. 9 -- the night Anderson dropped 36 points on the Pioneers.
 
ON DECK: Wagner, 3-1 in the NEC, fell behind, 17-4, early at Saint Francis University Saturday but regrouped and won, 56-50.
 
"What I wanted (his team) to really do was just keep focusing on the defensive end,'' Wagner coach Bashir Mason said. "If we got stops, I knew those shots we were missing early were going to start going in.''
 
The Seahawk bench contributed 31 points, including 14 from Marcus Burton, his 16th double-figure game off the bench in the past two seasons, according to the Staten Island Advance.
 
"It's a great feeling to have guys like that on the bench who are that talented,'' Mason said. "It's a luxury.''
 
The Red Flash, who were just 5-of-24 from distance, received 25 points and eight rebounds from Earl Brown.
 
"I feel like we're just right there, and it's just something small that's keeping us from winning,'' Brown said.
 
Two nights earlier, the Red Flash lost at Robert Morris, 73-68, after leading, 65-54, with 4:40 remaining.
 
In that game, the Red Flash trio of Ben Millaud-Meunier, Dominique Major and Malik Harmon was a combined 11-of-19 from three-point range. Against Wagner, those three were a combined 2-for-13 from deep.
 
That shows once again that basketball is a strange game.
 
NEC NUGGETS: Bryant raised its NEC record to 3-1 with 95-68 romp at Fairleigh Dickinson Saturday. The Bulldogs, who were up, 52-31, at halftime, made 11-of-17 from international waters. Corey Maynard scored a career-high 30 points for Bryant, making 12-of-15 field goal attempts. Alex Francis supplied 22 points and seven rebounds. Dyami Starks scored 15 points but was just five of 16 from the field. For FDU, Sidney Sanders Jr. scored 21 points … LIU Brooklyn won its first NEC game of the season, 62-61, when host Central Connecticut State missed a last-second shot. Jason Brickman scored 14 points and had six assists for the Blackbirds, who were nine of 30 from deep. Malcolm McMillan led the Blue Devils with 23 points. Central Connecticut State, without standouts Matthew Hunter (out for the season because of academics) and Kyle Vinales (broken finger) is 0-4 after playing its first four NEC games at home. "After games, we probe and try to dig up positives,'' CCSU coach Howie Dickenman said. "I don't want to get down on (the) kids, and I don't want them to get down on themselves. I told them this was a night where we have no difficulty finding positives. I thought we played well. There's the saying, 'There's a little light at the end of the tunnel.' I did say, 'There's a lot of light at the end of the tunnel from now on.''' after playing its first four NEC games at home.