www.rmucolonials.com

Feb. 14, 2012

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - Those chilly winds swirling outside the Charles L. Sewall Center last Saturday night certainly didn't have people thinking about swimming pools.

Well, most people anyway.

After his team's 70-56 victory against visiting Saint Francis (Pa.) that evening, Robert Morris University head coach Andrew Toole did indeed reference swimming pools.

"The makeup of our team a little bit is instead of diving into the deep end head-first they kind of wiggle their toe in the water and see how warm it is, how cold it is, and try and gauge the temperature as opposed to coming out and setting the tone,'' Toole said. "I thought we did a good job of setting the tone of the game with our defensive energy, with our pressure.''

Nor did the frigid temperatures outside the Sewall Center conjure thoughts of a boat on a lake.

Well, to most people anyway.

However, after his team committed 24 turnovers which led to 33 Robert Morris points, Saint Francis (Pa.) coach Don Friday did indeed harbor that thought.

"When you turn the ball over 24 times and you do it at some critical junctures, it's like throwing buckets of water into your row boat,'' Friday said. "You can only do that so many times before you're going to cause that thing to (sink).''

Without question, the Colonials' quick start - they jumped to leads of 13-6 and 22-10 - and the Red Flash's turnover travails were significant aspects of RMU's win.

But there was a play made by RMU guard Velton Jones that does not appear anywhere on the stat sheet that also helped the Colonials swim rather than sink in this one.

It's simply called a hustle play - but it's anything but easy.

With the game's outcome still somewhat in doubt, Saint Francis (Pa.) broke loose on a fast break. Trailing the play but gaining ground rapidly, Jones at the last split-second went into a head-first dive and knocked the ball out of bounds from behind, negating the fast break.

"That's what I have to do so we can be successful,'' Jones said. "I have to pick up my energy, and that's what I was trying to do.''

"That's Velton for you,'' Colonial guard Coron Williams said. "I've seen that before. At Monmouth last year, he did it. So when he did it tonight I wasn't surprised. I was like, 'That's Velton for you.'''

Toole also remembered Jones' play at Monmouth.

"Their coach (Dave Calloway) ran across the court and helped him up,'' Toole said. "I've been it so many times, but it still gives me such a sense of joy and it's such an exciting play for me. I was a little disappointed that the whole place didn't get up and give him a round of applause. You can watch hundreds of college basketball games (and) you don't see guys make effort plays like that.

"We've seen him do things like that before. We saw him jump over the bench against Monmouth here this year and almost decapitate himself. He's willing to do whatever it takes to win, and I think when he's willing to do that I think the other guys have no choice but to follow along.''

Jones made the spectacular play almost in front of Friday.

"Was I surprised by that? No, not at all,'' Friday said. "That's the way that kid plays. He's a warrior. At some point, my kids need to get into that. If kids want to do it, they'll do it. If they don't want to do it, they aren't going to do it. So for a kid like Jones, basketball must be really, really, really important to him. I think every time he goes out and plays, he plays pretty hard. I don't think that's out of character for him. Velton Jones is one of the toughest kids in this league. He's a tough dude.''

But he's not invincible.

"He's pretty banged up,'' Toole said. "He hits the floor a lot. He's always involved in some kind of physical play. He's pretty bumped and bruised. He's sore when he comes to practice. It's something we have to make sure we keep an eye on and maybe keep his practice reps down a little bit and make sure when he's in there he's giving good energy and when he's not (that) he's getting the proper rest.''

The Colonials also received solid minutes from junior Russell Johnson, who was slowed by a broken right thumb through much of late January and early February.

"I thought when Russell came into the game he really did a good job of kind of raising the energy level and making some plays that allowed us to build the lead and kind of take control of the game early,'' Toole said. "I think that's important, and it's one of the things that is an issue for us.''

Johnson entered the game just under four minutes following the opening tip and the Colonials down 6-3.

Over the next three minutes, he made two field goals, had an assist on another basket and made a steal, helping the Colonials go on a 10-0 sprint.

When the Red Flash steadied a bit after that, Johnson's two field goals from international waters carried the Colonials to that 22-10 lead.

And with 5:17 left in the game and the Colonials up by eight, Johnson made a crowd-wowing block of Anthony Ervin's attempted shot from close. Soon after, RMU led by 13, and the deal was sealed.

Johnson finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

"It feels good to have the normal Russell back. It's about time,'' Jones said. "We need him. It's real good for him to come out and play how he played - to get eight rebounds and make all the winning plays that he does. It's always a good thing for us.''

"It feels good to be back on the court,'' Johnson said. "I'm about 99 percent. I feel great.''

Johnson's final rebound of the game with 1:47 remaining was the 500th of his career and made him the 16th Colonial to reach that milestone.

"It means a lot,'' Johnson said. "I guess I'm in a category with a lot of great rebounders, so it feels good.''

Mike McFadden, who scored 11 points, also had eight rebounds.

"For the (previous) two days,'' Toole said, "all he heard was that he had zero rebounds in 25 minutes on Wednesday (at Saint Francis) and that other than Coron Williams he was averaging the fewest rebounds of anybody on our team who plays over 20 minutes (per game) in conference. And that just can't be. It shouldn't be. And so I think he was trying to prove a point to me, which I'll gladly (concede) -- and then remind him that he needs to do it Thursday as well.''

With the win, the Colonials (19-8, 10-4) clinched a spot in the Northeast Conference Tournament for the ninth consecutive season.

"I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,'' Toole said. "For the third game in a row, we really shared the ball (18 assists on their 23 field goals). I thought our ball pressure and our defensive energy was where it needs to be. I think we need to tighten up some of our technical issues, but I thought overall we did a lot of good things.''

UP NEXT: Bryant visits the Sewall Center Thursday night. The Bulldogs, in their final season of transitioning to Division I, are 2-24 overall and 1-13 in the NEC and have lost 11 consecutive games since beating Saint Francis (Pa.), 59-56, at home Jan. 7.

Bryant lost to Sacred Heart, 72-46, last Saturday. Shane Gibson scored 34 points for Sacred Heart.

NEC NUGGETS: RMU center Lijah Thompson didn't dress for last Saturday's game because of back spasms that surfaced in Friday's practice ... Velton Jones made nine of his 12 free throw attempts against Saint Francis (Pa.), tying Gabe Jackson's program record of 151 made free throws in a season. Jones has attempted 190 free throws this season, breaking Jackson's record of 185 attempts during the 1994-95 season ... Jones' total of 341 free throws made ranks third on RMU's all-time list behind Maurice Carter (349, 2001-05) and Myron Walker (386, 1990-94). And his 480 career free throw attempts are second all-time to Walker's 494 ... RMU's career rebounding leaders are Anthony Dickens (1985-90) and Tony Lee (2004-08), who each finished with 751 ... First-place LIU Brooklyn won its 22nd consecutive home game Sunday, beating neighboring St. Francis (N.Y.), 81-78. The Blackbirds rallied from a 75-70 deficit with 3:03 left. Jamal Olasewere scored a career-high 32 points and made all 11 of his field goal attempts. Blackbird teammate Julian Boyd had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Point guard Jason Brickman contributed 12 assists. Akeem Johnson led the Terriers with 23 points ... In another Sunday game, Quinnipiac beat host Central Connecticut State, 67-59, for its sixth win in seven games. CCSU led, 57-51, with 10:22 left but missed 19 of its final 20 field goal attempts. James Johnson led the Bobcats with 20 points. CCSU's Kyle Vinales had 27 points, but usually high-scoring teammates Ken Horton and Robby Ptacek were held to a total of 15 points. Horton (3-of-18) and Ptacek (3-of-11) were a combined 6-for-29 from the field. Horton sat out with final two minutes because of a back injury ... Second-place Wagner beat visiting Mount St. Mary's Saturday, 74-57, making 8-of-16 from deep and 16- of-18 from the free throw line ... Monmouth downed visiting Fairleigh Dickinson, 82-68. Melquan Bolding scored 24 points for FDU.