Moon Township, Pa. – Some stuff from Robert Morris' scintillating overtime win over St. Francis Saturday …
SYNOPSIS: Robert Morris trailed by 12 points, 32-20, with four minutes left in the first half, by 10 points, 36-26, very early in the second half and by eight points twice in overtime.
The Colonials won, 71-70, in front of 2,147 in the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Fairly exciting game, eh?
"It was an incredibly exciting game,'' RMU coach
Andrew Toole said. "A completely wild game. That was an absolutely wild and incredible game, there's no doubt.''
"It was a great environment for college basketball,'' St. Francis University coach Rob Krimmel said. "What a crazy overtime. That was a great basketball game. It was neat to be part of (although) you'd like to be on the winning side.''
Imagine if this had been the Northeast Conference championship game.
Could that game, no matter which two teams are in it March 10, be
more exciting?
"It would be tough to top,'' Toole said.
"If the championship game is that exciting there will be a lot of happy people in the league,'' Krimmel said. "I think the league is wide open. It's going to be an exciting stretch.''
The NEC Tournament begins Wednesday night. Robert Morris, which finished second at 12-6, plays seventh-seeded Wagner (8-10) in the Sewall Center.
HOW WE GOT TO OVERTIME: RMU's
Rodney Pryor made a three-point shot with 1:03 left in regulation, putting the Colonials up, 57-54. With 38 seconds remaining, Ollie Jackson's three from the right corner tied the game.
Pryor had a good look from the left corner with three seconds left.
"It felt good,'' Pryor said. "It was a little long.''
Aaron Tate had time for a wild tap from a few feet away, but this wasn't the Central Connecticut State game two weeks ago.
OT.
START OF THE EXTRA FIVE: Saint Francis scored three seconds in. Saint Francis scored 32 seconds in. Saint Francis scored 77 seconds in. Saint Francis scored 97 seconds in.
Robert Morris trailed, 65-57, before one could spell o-v-e-r-t-i-m-e.
"Probably
the worst start to overtime in the history of basketball,'' Toole said. "I thought we were completely dead. They get two dunks. They're jumping around. They think the game's over.''
Probably should have been.
"It was kind of a bummer because you always want to try to get the lead in overtime,'' Pryor said. "We knew we had to get stops because there was still a lot of time to play.''
But a lot of ground to make up, too.
The teams traded two points over a 37-second span and then Robert Morris changed the game.
In an amazing 10-second span that was vintage Loyola Marymount, the Colonials scored six points.
Pryor zipped in a 3-pointer. Senior
Lucky Jones stole the ball on the in-bounds, made an "and one'' layup and sank the free throw.
Just like that it was 67-65 with 2:16 remaining.
"Rodney makes that three, which all of a sudden gave us room to breathe, and then Lucky gets fouled and all of a sudden we got hit with those paddles and we were resuscitated," Toole said. "All of a sudden momentum's on our side and it's a two-point game within a matter of seconds and our guys really, really fed off that.''
THE CHARGE: One of the most significant plays of the game occurred with only three seconds left in the game.
Robert Morris led, 69-67, when Saint Francis University's Greg Brown drove from the left wing and made his shot.
But hold on!
Brown ran into Jones and was called for a charge, erasing the field goal.
"During the game, they got a lot of middle drives,'' Jones said. "The middle was wide open a lot. Some of them went in. Some didn't. I just knew that with the time and score they had to get a bucket fast. Greg Brown is not really a pull-up jump shot kind of guy. Fortunately he tried to stop and his momentum carried him through, and I just wanted to step in and make a senior play.''
Any doubt it would be called a charge?
"I knew it was going to be a charge,'' Jones said. "I had position. I took it in the chest, and I just fell as hard as I could. I was fortunate enough to get the charge (call).''
Jones was immediately fouled and made his two free throws, giving Robert Morris an insurmountable four-point lead.
Barely.
Red Flash standout Earl Brown hit an incredible, nothing-but-net 55-footer at the buzzer to account for the final score and cap his 30-point, 10-rebound performance.
Jones finished with 20 points and four rebounds -- and one mammoth charge taken -- on Senior Day.
"It was very emotional,'' Jones said. "Especially with my guys running around, hugging. We were all together at that critical time. It was a very special moment. I just embraced it.''
IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH: "Excited that we were able to win the game,'' Toole said. "Proud of guys the way they continued to play and fight and try and do whatever they could to get back into the game to start the second half, get the game to overtime, down in overtime. That they figured out a way to win it is pretty remarkable. Our guys were excited in the locker room. I hope maybe it can carry us as we move forward.''
MINNIE COULD BE HUGE: Elijah Minnie, the 6'8'' freshman from Lincoln Park High School, had 12 rebounds against Saint Francis, including eight after halftime. He could be a big factor against Wagner rebounding machine Mike Aaman Wednesday night.
"It's pretty much a focus from here on out,'' Minnie said. "The coaches have told me I need to attack the offensive and defensive boards and continue to battle for rebounds because they're really critical, especially in games like this. If I had 11 rebounds, who knows how the game could have gone? But I got 12. My coaches, and even my teammates, tell me I need to grab every rebound I can because they know I'm capable of getting rebounds, so that's what I hunt for.''
"He was terrific (with) 12 defensive rebounds,'' Toole said. "It seemed like in the second half that every time they missed he was involved in the action. You know, those are some of the things that as Elijah's gotten more comfortable he's been more aggressive doing. I got on him about rebounding at halftime and in the second half he was tremendous. Not only that, but he was able to be active offensively and he made some really big plays, and he did a nice job defensively. We switched defenses a ton, and sometimes that gets him a little bit confused, but I thought it was one of his best efforts on that side of the floor for sure.''
Minnie over his past seven games has averaged 9.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
"I'm actually starting to get the feel of my role on the team,'' Minnie said. "I'm starting to take pretty good shots. My teammates are helping me get open, and I'm finding gaps to get open. My teammates do a great job of getting me the ball in certain spots where I'm able to score. I give the credit to them because if they don't get me the ball I don't score.''
MAN UP: The Colonials played more man-to-man defense than usual against the Red Flash, alternating that with their zone.
"I think some of it was opponent-driven,'' Toole said. "You know, Saint Francis does an excellent job against a zone. They really, really move the ball well. They really are patient and wait for you to break down. We're not the most mentally tough group and so the longer we're on defense, the more opportunity there is when we're in our zone for some kind of crack. To try to keep them on their heels a little bit we had to switch defenses to try to disrupt their tempo and try and speed them up some. I think it's something we needed to try and do. I think it helped us today. (The Colonials getting) 20 points off their turnovers was a big factor in the game.''
NOW IS THE TIME: Once again, the Colonials appeared a bit lethargic at the outset of the game. That isn't going to fly against Wagner.
"We told (the players that) every time you want to relax or exhale from here on out it could mean (the end of) your season,'' Toole said. "Not everyone gets to go to the conference tournament, so every day that we get to get together, whether it's to watch film, practice, lift weights, work out, play a game, you have to appreciate it. And you have to realize that it could be your last. There are a couple teams in our league that their seasons finished (Saturday). We get to move on, and the longer you want to continue to play, the more focus you have to have and the more urgency and intensity you have to have.''
NOTES: Jones enters the postseason as RMU's leader in career rebounds (827) and with 1,554 career points, sixth all-time in program history. Velton Jones is fifth with 1,588 …
Lucky Jones has 84 double-figure scoring games, tied with with Tony Lee (2004-08) for fourth all-time. Myron Walker is third with 92 …
Marcquise Reed has 448 points, second all-time for an RMUfreshman. Karon Abraham scored 477 points in 35 games during the 2009-10 season … Saturday's win ensured a 10th consecutive winning season for Robert Morris, which extends its school record. . .In the final NEC regular season statistics against league opposition, Pryor (16.3 points per game), Reed (16.1) and Jones (15.1) finished fifth, sixth and ninth, respectively, in scoring. Minnie was second in field goal percentage (.588). Reed and
Kavon Stewart tied for first with an average of 1.83 steals per game. Stewart was fourth in assists per game (4.4). Reed (85.1) and Jones (84.8) were fifth and sixth, respectively, in free-throw percentage. And Reed led the league in 3-point shooting percentage (.474) … Wagner senior Marcus Burton, who led the league in scoring during the regular season with an average of 19.2 points per game against NEC teams, did not score in the Seahawks' 74-64 loss at Mount St. Mary's Saturday and took only two shots in his 38 minutes.
