Men's Basketball 1/20/2015 10:22:00 AM By Paul Meyer

Meyer On Morris: The Bucket List

Moon Township, Pa. – Last Sunday, Marcquise Reed skillfully moved through and around Sacred Heart's defense en route to a 24-point performance that helped Robert Morris beat the Pioneers, 85-65, in the Charles L. Sewall Center.

On Monday, Reed significantly moved into some pretty good company.

For the fourth time this season, he was chosen the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week, making him just the third Colonial to win the award at least four times.

That's especially meaningful because each of the other two wound up being named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year.

Jeremy Chappell won the award in 2006. Karon Abraham won it in 2010. So could Reed do it in 2015?

If teammate Rodney Pryor had a vote, Reed would win.

"Hands down,'' Pryor said. "He just does it all. Defensively, he has a knack for the ball with his steals. Offensively, he can score with the best of them. As a freshman, he's just coming along really well, maturing with every practice and every game. It's good to see that.''

Reed, a 6'3'' guard from Landover, Md., compares very favorably with Chappell and Abraham.

He's averaging 14.4 points per game, which ranks sixth in the NEC overall and first among freshmen. He's averaging 1.89 steals per game, tied for second in the league. He's tied for second in the NEC with a 42.9 percent shooting mark from three-point range. His overall shooting percentage of 51.6 is fifth in the league. He's scored 259 points. With at least 12 games remaining, he's on pace to finish with 435 points.

As a freshman, Chappell averaged 14.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He scored 410 points. He shot 45.6 percent from the floor, including 39.6 percent from beyond the arc. Chappell ended his Colonial career with 1,875 points, third on RMU's all-time scoring list.

Abraham as a freshman played in 35 games, tied for first among all Colonial freshmen. He scored 477 points, an RMU freshman record, and averaged 13.6 points per game. He had that scintillating 23-point performance against Villanova in the NCAA Tournament when the 15th-seeded Colonials almost upset the second-seeded Wildcats before losing, 73-70, in overtime. That season, he shot 43 percent from the field, including 44.3 percent from deep, and 85.1 percent at the free throw line.

Now here's Reed making his way into the Colonial record books as a freshman.

Reed came to Robert Morris with the resume of a scorer. But perhaps he's exceeding expectations during his rookie campaign.

"He's close,'' RMU coach Andrew Toole said.

Against Sacred Heart, and the Pioneers' standout freshman Cane Broome, Reed displayed his all-around game. Yes, he scored those 24 points, matching the season high he dropped on North Carolina, Nov. 16, but he also grabbed six rebounds, handed out five assists and had no turnovers in 32 minutes.

"Pretty impressive,'' Toole said. "We'll still stay on him about his defensive urgency, but, yeah, he's been really impressive. Up to this point, he's had an absolutely tremendous freshman year. We're thankful to have him on our team.''

Broome managed nine points against the Colonials, all of which came in the second half after the decision had pretty much been reached.

"We came out ready to get a win,'' said Reed, who's aware of the Rookie of the Year race. "I knew in my mind I had to play a better game. The outcome shows.''

Reed scored 11 points in the first half, helping RMU build a 47-35 lead, and 13 more in the second half. He was 10-of-16 from the field and constantly searched for offensive openings, a sign he's increasingly looking for his shot and becoming more aggressive on the offensive end.

"Absolutely,'' Reed said. "My teammates keep encouraging me to basically go and score the ball, so that gives me more confidence on top of what I already have in myself. When my teammates want me to score, that makes me feel a lot better.''

Reed, who's scored in double figures in 10 of his last 11 games, was far from the only offensive story for Robert Morris against Sacred Heart. Senior Lucky Jones scored 22 points, including 18 in the first half, and Pryor added 15, meaning RMU's "Big Three'' amassed 61 points against the Pioneers.

Jones, whose shooting has been a work in progress most of the season, was spectacular in the first half. He made all six of his field goal attempts, five of which originated in international waters.

"I get those shots every game,'' Jones said, "but it was a blessing for them to start going down. Especially when you have two great scorers on our team (Reed and Pryor) it kind of opens it up for me, as well. They told me to keep my eye on the target and knock it down.''

Jones added a game-high 11 rebounds, which perhaps made him more proud.

"Offense goes up and down and I try to not really worry about the point aspect,'' he said. "I just have to make sure I play hard, continue to rebound, continue to defend.''

Jones has elevated his game since the NEC schedule began, seemingly driven to end his Colonial career on a high. In six league games, he's averaged 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

"I think the key to Lucky's game, and we've talked about it all year long, is his activity level,'' Toole said. "It's not just him. It's most players. When you try to score, it makes it hard to score. I think Marcquise is probably one of the only guys we have who has that ability where he knows he's going to go and get shot attempts and have a good opportunity to score. When guys go out there looking to make shots or looking to score instead of looking to make the right decision based on the game I think you get yourself in a tough spot.

"Lucky's effort level … obviously his rebounding effort has been through the roof for these first six (NEC) games. Fifty-five rebounds is a pretty high clip. We always talk to Lucky about (how) when he's playing hard somehow the ball finds its way into the basket for him. There are a lot of guys like that. Hopefully he can maintain the same level of effort and then be able to find open shots or free throws or a couple cheap buckets. That gets you your points.''

The Colonials were an offensive machine against Sacred Heart, obviously helped by the great production of Reed, Jones and Pryor.

"That's when your offense is going to be at its best,'' Toole said. "I think consistently we need two or three of them to be scoring the ball. Teams are going to try to take one of them away and the other two have to step up and you hope you get another guy who can provide some points.''

Well, how about the "another guy'' the Colonials produced against the Pioneers? You know, Aaron Tate. Or Andre Frederick.

Combined, junior Aaron Tate and freshman Andre Frederick scored 17 points and chipped in 16 rebounds.

"They played their roles,'' Jones said. "They did everything that the coach and the team asked of them. They were out there having fun. It was good to see both of them make some great shots that they're capable of making. Making hustle plays. Making the wall-up (defensive) plays that they're capable of making.''

Tate scored a career-high 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the floor and had eight rebounds.

"Aaron Tate is the most consistent human being and player that we have in our locker room,'' Toole said. "And that's why he plays so many minutes. We trust him time and time again that he's going to be in the right spot. He's going to make the right effort. He's going to make the best decision for the team. He was able to finish (Sunday). He was able to rebound. His positioning was excellent defensively -- as always. He's a guy who is 1,000 percent about team. We love coaching him. We probably don't tell him enough how much we appreciate him. We try to remember to do that from time to time because sometimes we get distracted by other things.''

The 6'8" Frederick played a season-high 18 minutes while scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking two shots. No doubt his minutes increased partially because 6'9'' Stephan Bennett played only two minutes Sunday and 6'8'' Elijah Minnie missed a second game because of a violation of team rules.

But Frederick also played significant minutes because he contributed.

"Everybody's seen the potential in Dre,'' Toole said. "It's just a matter of him being able to do it on a consistent basis. For whatever reason when he was in shoot-around (Sunday) he was really engaged. He was lively. He was trying to dunk everything. He just seemed like he was ready to play. He got on the floor and was able to produce. He was active. If he could continue to do that, I think it would help our team dramatically (and) give us some offensive balance, some rim protection, some of those things that we need.''

The Colonials next play at Mount St. Mary's Thursday. Will Minnie return for that game?

"We're hoping so,'' Toole said. "A lot of it's going to be based on how he responds and how he acts."

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Players Mentioned

#22 Lucky Jones: G/F; 6' 6"; Senior; Sr.

#24 Aaron Tate: F; 6' 5"; Junior; Jr.

#45 Stephan Bennett: F; 6' 9"; Junior; Jr.

#2 Marcquise Reed: G; 6' 3"; Freshman; Fr.

#11 Rodney Pryor: G; 6' 5"; Junior; Jr.

#5 Elijah Minnie: F; 6' 8"; Freshman; Fr.

#33 Andre Frederick: F; 6' 8"; Freshman; Fr.

Players Mentioned

#22 Lucky Jones
: 6' 6"; Senior; Sr.
: G/F

#24 Aaron Tate
: 6' 5"; Junior; Jr.
: F

#45 Stephan Bennett
: 6' 9"; Junior; Jr.
: F

#2 Marcquise Reed
: 6' 3"; Freshman; Fr.
: G

#11 Rodney Pryor
: 6' 5"; Junior; Jr.
: G

#5 Elijah Minnie
: 6' 8"; Freshman; Fr.
: F

#33 Andre Frederick
: 6' 8"; Freshman; Fr.
: F