Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. – What Robert Morris is doing as a group is just sick.
 
In Anthony Myers-Pate's case, it's literally so.
 
The senior point guard Thursday night impressively shook off the effects of a three-day bout with the flu and scored a career-high 21 points as the personnel-challenged Colonials staved off Bryant, 79-76, in front of a raucous Charles L. Sewall Center crowd.
 
"I just fed off the crowd,'' Myers-Pate said. "The crowd had so much energy. I really wanted to win the game for them. I appreciate all the fans coming out. The school did a great job promoting the game, and we tried to promote it on twitter, instagram. The fans responded.''
 
Indeed. In the waning minutes as the Colonials tried valiantly, and successfully, to protect what remained of a 14-point lead, Robert Morris president Gregory Dell'Omo, wearing his own "Red-Out'' shirt, exhorted the fans from his courtside seat.
 
All in all, it was a great evening for the Colonials, who once again received contributions from all eight players they have left and raised their Northeast Conference record to 7-0, delighting their followers in the throng of 2,454.
 
"I'm going to sound repetitive, but I thought it was another excellent basketball game with two really good teams,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said, echoing his assessment of the Colonials' 74-70 victory over Wagner last Saturday. "I thought our guys did a great job being able to hang on for the win. It was another total team effort by our guys to beat a very good team in Bryant.''
 
The win gave Robert Morris a two-game lead in the NEC and a season sweep of Bryant (5-2), which is no small feat.
 
"They only play seven guys, but they can all pass, dribble and shoot,'' LIU Brooklyn coach Jack Perri said of the Bulldogs last week. "They play so free. (Dyami) Starks is a dynamic scorer and (Alex) Francis is as good a big man as we have in the league.''
 
All true. But the Colonials are doing just dandily with the eight players they have.
 
"We have a lot of confidence,'' said Karvel Anderson, who led the Colonials with 24 points Thursday night. "We have a lot of confidence in our unit. We haven't had this confidence in a while. We feel like everybody who comes onto the floor can contribute to the best of their ability, and that does a lot for us.''
 
Myers-Pate did his part after losing "a lot'' in the first three days of the week. He fought through vomiting bouts during practices and gave perhaps the best performance of his career against Bryant.
 
That was after one final visit to the trash can during Thursday's shoot-around.
 
"I guess it was just the demons leaving my body,'' Myers-Pate said with a grin.
 
Myers-Pate entered the game shooting just 35.3 percent from the field, including a rather ill 21.4 percent (6-for-28) from beyond the arc this season.
 
Against Bryant, though, he staged a Karvel Anderson-esque shooting performance, hitting 8-of-9 from the field, including 3-for-3 from international waters.
 
"I gave (Karvel) a big hug before the game,'' Myers-Pate said. "I guess it rubbed off on me.''
 
It pleased Myers-Pate no end that former Colonial point guard Velton Jones was in the house and sat courtside just a few feet from the RMU bench.
 
"He's a big brother figure to me,'' Myers-Pate said. "It was letting him know we're still holding things down and after all the hard work he put in we're still keeping the tradition alive.''
 
Myers-Pate contributed five rebounds and made two free throws with 31 seconds remaining to help keep the Bulldogs at bay.
 
Toole was not surprised one iota that Myers-Pate could play his 30 minutes and do all he did despite still recovering from the flu.
 
"I've seen him do it for four years,'' Toole said. "There wasn't any doubt he was going to play and give everything he had because that's what he does and that's the kind of kid he is and the kind of person he is. From an effort standpoint, from a desire standpoint, he's as good as we've ever had here (in terms) of a guy who wants to win and do everything in his power to help his team.''
 
Myers-Pate's, uh, bulldog approach to this game exemplifies what's going on with these Colonials recently. Guys step up – across the bench.
 
To wit?
 
How about junior David Appolon, whose somewhat enigmatic career seems to be coalescing into something special.
 
Appolon, who entered the starting lineup as a replacement for suspended freshman Jeremiah Worthem, continued to impress with nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals in 30 minutes.
 
"I had to pick it up and step into a big role,'' Appolon said. "I have experience, being a junior, and I have Karvel, Anthony and Lucky (Jones). They're telling me to shoot and just keep playing my game and be active on defense. I feel as long as I stay active on defense, I can get involved on both sides of the floor.''
 
"I think Dave was a guy who at times in his career has been inconsistent to his approach to practice and inconsistent in his preparation,'' Toole said. "As a result of that, his minutes have been inconsistent. He's a guy who really, really wants to play. I have more conversations with him about how he can play and all that kind of stuff. I don't know that he's always believed me that if you just do what we're asking you to do and be yourself you'll get more out of that than if you try to be somebody else. Maybe now that he knows he's going to go on the floor he gets that. I think in the past he would get on the floor and he'd want to play perfect. He'd want to hit a home run. He'd want to make the spectacular play that all of a sudden everybody would say, 'Well, Dave's got to play 30 minutes,' and I think he got himself in trouble doing that at times.
 
"We know that Dave is very talented and we know that he can really affect games in a positive way, and he did that tonight, not only with his nine points but the five rebounds, the three steals. He got himself off to a great start with just hustle plays, and when he's done that in his career he's seen himself get more time. The key is that we've just got to continue to talk with Dave about handling the success and remaining as focused as you have to be every day to prepare yourself for the next game.''
 
Appolon's scoring contributions were especially welcome because junior Lucky Jones, maybe pressing a bit in his bid to reach 1,000 career points, had a woeful night from the field. He made only 1-of-12 field goal attempts, including one of nine from deep, and finished with five points, leaving him seven points shy of 1,000. Jones did recover from a nasty tumble late in the first half that forced him to sit out four minutes and had a team-high eight rebounds and four assists.
 
"Lucky didn't shoot it well,'' Toole said, "but to be able to get eight rebounds and have four assists, those
things help contribute to wins as well.''
 
While Bryant's Francis riddled the Colonials inside with 30 points and 10 rebounds, Robert Morris was able to limit Starks to 10 points, which is half his per-game average. Starks was 4-of-13 from the field and made only two of his 10 casts from beyond the arc. Starks entered the game shooting 40 percent from three-point range.
 
"That's always a point of (defensive) emphasis with his shooting ability and the way he can score the basketball,'' Anderson said. "Containing him was a big defensive key of ours. Stopping those two is hard to do, but containing those two was a big defensive key of ours. We felt like if we could slow those two down that would give us our best chance to win the game. Luckily, we did pretty well on Starks. Francis did what he did -- what he's been doing all year -- but we did a good job, and it was good enough to get the win.''
 
Again.
 
The Colonials have won their seven NEC games by an average margin of 8.4 points per game. Toss out their 26-point win over Sacred Heart, Jan. 23, and that margin drops to 5.5 points per game.
 
Why have they been able to win consistently without much margin for error?
 
"I think we've been doing a great job of leading the team,'' Myers-Pate said. "I think we have some of the leadership other teams don't. Me, (Karvel) and Lucky have been leading the team to the best of our ability, and everybody's been doing a great job of following our lead.''
 
"I feel like we've stuck together,'' Anderson said. "In practice, we've done more focusing on late-game situations, focusing on closing out halves and closing out ends of games. We've been doing a good job of staying urgent even when we do have the lead toward the ends of games and not letting up and keeping our foot on the gas pedal.''
 
"Our guys have stepped up and made plays when we need to make them,'' Toole said. "We've made key free throws in certain games.''
 
Thursday's game was a case in point there. The Colonials, who lead the NEC in free throw shooting against league brethren, made 16-of-17 free throw attempts against Bryant.
 
"We've been able to execute well,'' Toole said. "Karvel's hit some big shots in some of the games, but I think all of our guys on the floor have been able to really lock in in some of these late-game situations and make the play that it takes, whether it's a rebound, whether it's a defensive stop, whether it's an offensive execution situation, whether it's stepping to the line and being strong with the ball and making free throws. Each game, you've seen different guys step up in some of those situations, and they've come through so far in all of them.''
 
That's especially remarkable when one considers the Colonials are playing with a very short bench and will do so for the remainder of this season.
 
"Maybe,'' Toole said, "it's that guys are really comfortable now because some of the guys who were in (inconsistent) minutes situations now know that they're going to play. When they go on the floor they know, 'Hey, let me play my game. I don't need to try to impress anybody. I don't need to try to do something I'm not capable of doing. I just need to go out and be me.' Maybe some of the guys who are playing some more minutes might be a little freer because, 'Hey, what we got is what we got, and I have to raise up and make this shot for my team and make the best decision for our team and go from there.'
 
"I definitely have liked the way the guys have rallied together. I like the way our leadership has grabbed everybody and closed ranks a little bit and made the team really enjoyable to work with in these last couple weeks. Everybody is engaged every day. We sit and watch film and we talk about a lot of different things, and I think guys are really in tune with each other and obviously playing with some pretty good confidence right now.''
 
UP NEXT: The Colonials play struggling Central Connecticut State (1-6) Saturday at the Sewall Center. After having gained emotional victories against Wagner and Bryant -- and with a two-game trip to Brooklyn next week -- the Colonials possibly face a "trap game'' situation against the Blue Devils.
 
Central Connecticut State certainly doesn't feel sorry for the Colonials and their personnel shortage. The Blue Devils are without productive Matthew Hunter (academics) and prolific scorer Kyle Vinales (broken finger).
 
On Thursday night, the Blue Devils lost at Saint Francis University, 69-63. CCSU trailed at halftime, 35-29, but made its first 11 field goal attempts of the second half and surged to a 48-40 lead. However, the Red Flash regrouped and secured the win down the stretch. Ben Millaud-Meunier, just as he did against Sacred Heart last Saturday, clinched the victory from the free throw line, making all six of his attempts in the final 30 seconds.
 
Earl Brown, as usual, led the Red Flash with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Faronte Drakeford made 10 of 16 field goal attempts and scored 21 points for the Blue Devils, who also received 14 points from Matt Mobley.
 
NEC NUGGETS: Saint Francis Brooklyn won at Sacred Heart, 83-78, in a game played Wednesday night. Brent Jones had 28 points and eight assists for the Terriers. Teammate Jalen Cannon added 21 points. Evan Kelley led the Pioneers with 20 points … Mount St. Mary's rallied to beat visiting Fairleigh Dickinson, 87-82, in overtime Thursday evening. Sidney Sanders Jr. (21 points) made a three with 3:46 left in regulation that put the Knights up, 67-58, but the Mountaineers used an 11-2 run to force the extra session. Mount St. Mary's, which was 9-of-30 from international waters, received 23 points and 10 rebounds from Rashad Whack and 17 points and 11 assists from Julian Norfleet … Wagner won at LIU Brooklyn, 75-68. Latif Rivers led the Seahawks with 18 points while the Wagner bench contributed 30 points. Jay Harris, who didn't play against Robert Morris last Saturday because of an injury, returned against LIU Brooklyn and scored 10 points off the bench. Kenny Ortiz, Wagner's defensive standout, scored seven points and added six steals, seven assists and five rebounds. E.J. Reed scored 18 points for the Blackbirds, and Jason Brickman contributed 13 assists.