Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. – It has been 14 basketball seasons since Robert Morris last built its version of the Brooklyn Bridge.
 
The RMU span does not connect Brooklyn and Manhattan as does the real Brooklyn Bridge.
 
Instead, it links back-to-back victories in Brooklyn over LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis Brooklyn on the same weekend.
 
The Colonials haven't completed their Brooklyn bridge since the 1999-2000 season -- or 117 years after the original Brooklyn Bridge was finished.
 
Robert Morris put itself in position to build its particular bridge this season with a solid 65-56 win at LIU Brooklyn Thursday night. The Colonials can finish the project by winning at Saint Francis Brooklyn Saturday afternoon.
 
Seems as if RMU coach Andrew Toole could use that as a motivational tool with his team.
 
"We're using it already,'' Toole said Friday morning.
 
Never mind that the 14-season "no-sweep'' stat is sort of bogus.
 
For one thing, the Colonials don't always play at LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis Brooklyn in the same season.
 
For another, they have won at both schools in the same season as recently as 2007-08 -- Mike Rice's first season as RMU's head coach. However, those victories occurred two weeks apart.
 
It is true, though, that the Colonials haven't built a Brooklyn bridge in a three-day span since that 1999-2000 season. On Feb. 24, 2000, they won at Saint Francis Brooklyn, 97-92. Two nights later, they won at LIU Brooklyn, 73-58, in the regular season finale.
 
Toole, or "Architect Andy'' if you prefer, knows his crew faces some difficult construction challenges Saturday.
 
"(Saint Francis Brooklyn) is a tough, tough team,'' Toole said. "They really disrupt everything you try to do offensively, and they love to get the ball into the paint.''
 
In their victory over Saint Francis University Thursday night, the Terriers outscored the Red Flash in the paint, 50-24.
 
Jalen Cannon leads the Terriers with averages of 17.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in Northeast Conference play. Ben Mockford is averaging 14 points a game and shoots 42.7 percent from three-point range. Point guard Brent Jones averages 10.8 points and 7.9 assists per game.
 
"Brent Jones has been playing at an extremely high level the last three or four weeks,'' Toole said.
 
The Terriers' three-game winning streak has St. Francis Brooklyn at 6-3 in the Northeast Conference, two games behind the Colonials (8-1).
 
Robert Morris Thursday night achieved an impressive bounce-back in Brooklyn from their fall-from-ahead loss to Central Connecticut State last weekend, a defeat Toole referred to as "Saturday's debacle.''
 
The Colonials fought through a tough first half and led, 27-24, at the break, then built a 14-point lead in the second half. This time, they held most of that lead and weren't seriously threatened down the stretch.
 
"In the (timeout) huddle, (Anthony Myers-Pate) was saying, 'Let's win these last eight minutes,''' Toole said. "We've been trying to get them to understand the importance of every possession. They understood (Thursday night). Hopefully, they'll continue to understand.''
 
Robert Morris built that first half lead despite going almost eight minutes without a point. The Colonials zipped to a 10-0 lead in the first 4:40, then didn't score again until the Blackbirds had scored 14 consecutive points to go up, 14-10, with about eight minutes left in the half.
 
"We'd worked against their 3-2 zone all week, and when they switched to a 2-3 zone it disrupted our rhythm,'' Toole said.
 
What also disrupted the Colonials' offense was the absence of leading scorer Karvel Anderson for much of the first half because of foul trouble. Anderson played only seven minutes and did not score. Toole said he didn't consider playing Anderson with his two fouls because of "the way the game was going.''
 
Points obviously were at a premium, and the Colonials were hanging tough.
 
"I knew (Anderson) would be important in the second half,'' Toole said.
 
That he was. Immediately.
 
Seven seconds into the second half, Anderson drained a three. Forty-one seconds later, he struck again from long range.
 
"A huge scoring burst,'' Toole said of Anderson's double-trey drop. "Our guys were playing hard, and that gave us some space. They had to come out and defend the perimeter. It gave us some energy, and that was important.''
 
Anderson struck again with 12 minutes left in the second half. Myers-Pate made a steal and fed ahead to Anderson, who hit another three to push the RMU lead to 50-36.
 
"A great play by both guys,'' Toole said.
 
Anderson finished with a team-high 16 points. Aaron Tate helped immensely on the glass by grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds.
 
"He was a monster,'' Toole said. "He was terrific. He was able to stay in front of their (inside) guys and make them take tough shots.''
 
The Colonials held the Blackbirds to 32.3 percent shooting from the field. LIU Brooklyn made only 4-of- 18 casts from international waters. Robert Morris won the glass tussle, 41-39, and made 12 of its 14 free throw attempts, another nice bounce-back from their dismal 6-of-15 effort from the stripe in the second half against CCSU.
 
"I thought our guys responded well,'' Toole said. "Any road win is a great win. We're happy to have it.''
 
UP NEXT: Saint Francis Brooklyn had two great defensive stands in its 78-52 pull-away victory over the Red Flash Thursday night. The Terriers held Saint Francis University to two points in the final four minutes of the first half, after which it led, 31-25. During the second half, the Red Flash scored only five points in a 10-minute span. The Terriers scored the first eight points of the second half en route to shooting 73 percent from the field (19-of-26) after the break.
 
Freshman Sheldon Hagigal led the Terriers with 23 points in his 25 minutes. He made 9-of-11 field goal attempts. No Red Flash scored in double figures. Even though the Red Flash did make 6-of-15 from deep, the Terriers in their past four games have limited their opponents to 28.1 percent accuracy from beyond the arc.
 
NEC NUGGETS: Bryant (7-2) remained right behind Robert Morris in the standings with a 79-68 win at Central Connecticut State. Alex Francis had a 20-10 double-double for the Bulldogs, who had five players reach double figures. Dyami Starks managed 16 points despite making just two of nine long-range launches. Malcolm McMillan had 16 points and teammate Brandon Peel produced a 15-12 double-double for the Blue Devils, who could get back leading scorer Kyle Vinales (broken finger) Saturday. Vinales has yet to play an NEC game this season … Mount St. Mary's (6-3) used a 17-5 run to build a 57-45 lead midway through the second half and won at Sacred Heart, 73-60. The Mountaineers, who were just 7-of-26 from deep, received 16 points from Rashad Whack and 14 points off the bench from Gregory Graves, who made all five of his field goal attempts. Louis Montes led the Pioneers with 18 points and 10 rebounds … Wagner made 25-of-35 free throw attempts in its 75-68 win against visiting Fairleigh Dickinson, which was 12-of-15 from the stripe. Latif Rivers had 20 points for the Seahawks and went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Sidney Sanders Jr. had 25 points for the Knights. Wagner's Naofall Folahan blocked five shots and became the fifth NEC player in history to achieve 200 career blocked shots … LIU Brooklyn's Jason Brickman had 11 assists against Robert Morris, raising his career total to 941. Brickman is 11th on the NCAA's all-time assist list.

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