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Robert Morris University Athletics

RMU Basketball

Men's Basketball By Paul Meyer

Meyer On Morris: The Real Thing

Moon Township, Pa. – Now, seven weeks after the basketball season began, the basketball season begins.
 
For the 10 teams in the Northeast Conference, the next eight weeks will determine seeding for the conference tournament, which will produce the league's one representative in the NCAA Tournament in March.
 
Yes, in some ways March seems rather far down the road.
 
But it's not.
 
Particularly with the way the NEC schedule sets up this season. Teams begin play tonight, and in the span of eight days will play four league games apiece, almost a quarter of the schedule in zip-pa-dee-doo-da fashion.
 
So Robert Morris seniors Lucky Jones and David Appolon had better be ready from the get-go Saturday afternoon when the Colonials play nemesis Mount St. Mary's in the Charles L. Sewall Center.
 
"I keep trying to remind Dave and Lucky that they have 18 games left and at the end of next week they're going be down to 14, and that's going to happen in the blink of an eye,'' RMU head coach Andrew Toole said Friday.
 
That's a rather large chunk of the schedule chewed up in a hurry.
 
"It's a lot,'' Toole noted. "Three on the road doesn't make it any easier. We'll know a lot about ourselves a week from (tonight) after we've played that fourth game. We have to make sure we take advantage of every opportunity to step on the floor as a team or watch film as a team or go to the weight room as a team. The season's going by very, very quickly. We're running out of time to say, 'Well, hey, we'll pick it up tomorrow.'''
 
The Colonials arrived at the start of conference play with a 4-8 record following a 64-57 loss at Clemson Tuesday.
 
Robert Morris hung with the Atlantic Coast Conference team for much of the first half and trailed by only four, 30-26, at intermission. However, the Tigers quickly got out to a 48-30 lead in the first six minutes of the second half. Here, the Colonials could have folded, but they didn't and regrouped to produce a competitive game.
 
"I think that was something we can build on,'' Toole said. "We talked about it after the game. The thing I was proud of was that we continued to fight and scrap. There definitely were a lot of positives we can take from the Clemson game in terms of our effort and energy, and we're going to need that every single time we step on the floor in Northeast Conference play.''
 
Perhaps in that game Toole saw some of the toughness his team lacked throughout much of the non-conference schedule.
 
"It was definitely a good step for us,'' Toole said. "There have been other experiences we've had this year where we've gotten down by double digits and instead of raising our intensity we've kind of frayed a little bit. The fact we were able to stay together as a team and continued to execute our plan on both ends of the floor I think is exactly the positive to take from that game.''
 
However, as Colonial fans have seen far too often thus far, a positive doesn't seem to carry over to the next game. A good performance doesn't necessarily lead to an encore.
 
So what's Toole's assessment of his team as it begins its Northeast Conference schedule?
 
"I like that we've made some improvement in some areas,'' he said. "I like that certain guys have established themselves in some areas. I'm still not completely satisfied with the way we approach each day and with our attention to detail. I think those things are really important. You try to have that consistent energy and that attention to detail because (against) a lot of the teams in our league there's little margin for error. Also, going on the road in our league is very difficult, and without that day-in, day-out work ethic, it's hard to go and win games on the road. That's still what we're searching for -- that consistency every day so we can improve the way we need to.''
 
Toole probably will trim his player rotation during league play. He's used 10 players in many games thus far, but that number likely will drop by one, maybe two, against NEC opposition.
 
"Ten might be a little much,'' he said. "I think nine is probably in the ballpark. You have 200 minutes in a game to give out, and you have to have some of your better players on the floor longer. I think at this point in time everyone's been given an opportunity in practice and substantial opportunity in games to show what they're capable of. I think we have to make sure, or try to as best we can, that guys get comfortable in their rotation.''
 
For the first time in years, the NEC will go back to a balanced, round-robin schedule this season.
 
"It gives everyone the same exact opportunity as everybody else,'' Toole said. "That's what people look for in sports, that everyone has the same opportunity to play everybody at home and play everybody on the road and produce a true regular-season champion.''
 
Northeast Conference teams went 42-73 in the non-conference portion of the season. Anything stood out in Toole's mind?
 
"I think one of the things that's caught my eye is that, similar to us, there have been ups and downs for all the teams in our league,'' he said.
 
Certainly one of the ups is the play of St. Francis University. The up and coming Red Flash, who entertain the Colonials Monday night in Loretto, Pa., are 6-5. Saint Francis is the only NEC team above .500. It owns an impressive victory at Rutgers, a game in which it trailed by 16 points with five minutes left in the first half and then built a 61-48 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
 
It was the first victory by an NEC team over a Big Ten team in the NEC's 34-year history.
 
"To be able to come in and knock off a Big Ten opponent is certainly a statement win," SFU coach Rob Krimmel said.  "I think it sends a message to our guys that we can compete and we can play with the big boys."
 
Sacred Heart, which finished last in the NEC last season, also has raised some eyebrows with its 6-7 record. The Pioneers last season were 5-26, including 2-14 in league play.
 
On the other hand, Central Connecticut State, which plays host to Robert Morris Jan. 10, has had a downer of a start. The Blue Devils, picked in the preseason by the league coaches to finish second, are 2-11. They've had to deal with the loss of standout scorer Kyle Vinales, who scored 1,514 points in his three seasons at CCSU. Vinales was suspended before the season began because of an off-court incident and then decided to leave the program.
 
Mount St. Mary's (4-7) has dealt with graduation losses as it tries to get itself together and successfully defend the NEC championship it won last season at the expense of the Colonials. You'll recall that the Mountaineers strode into the Sewall Center March 11, shredded the Colonials' zone defense and left with an 88-71 victory in the NEC Tournament championship game.
 
Mountaineer coach Jamion Christian, who built his program on a swarming full-court press, has backed off on using that press as much this year.
 
"The best thing about our team is we have such great versatility,'' Christian said. "To win games, we don't have to press and trap all of the time. There are going to be some games where the press is going to be great for us, and we turn people over. There are going to be other games where we are going to be able to really lock down in the half court. That's what's really exciting about our team."
 
Mount St. Mary's has managed to get its four victories despite averaging only 57.3 points per game, last in the NEC. It's also last in the league in free throw percentage (60.7) and defensive field goal percentage (50.8). The Mountaineers rank ninth in three-point accuracy (29.3 percent) but lead the league in three-point attempts (273).
 
No Mountaineer averages in double figures. The Mount's leading scorer is Andrew Smeathers (9.0 points per game), a transfer from Butler who became eligible three games ago.
 
"There are a lot of teams that are trying to figure things out, whether it's with new players taking or new roles or incoming freshmen having to step in and play big parts for teams,'' said Toole, whose Colonials were picked to finish third this season. "Everybody's trying to find themselves, and I think sometimes it's hard to find yourself when you're playing some tough non-conference games. Everybody in our league is on a similar playing field, and it will be an interesting 18-game regular season.''


 
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Players Mentioned

Lucky Jones

#22 Lucky Jones

G/F
6' 6"
Senior
Sr.
David Appolon

#4 David Appolon

G
6' 4"
Senior
Sr.

Players Mentioned

Lucky Jones

#22 Lucky Jones

6' 6"
Senior
Sr.
G/F
David Appolon

#4 David Appolon

6' 4"
Senior
Sr.
G