Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - It was fun while it lasted - and it lasted a pretty good while.

"It'' in this case was the possibility that No. 3 seed Robert Morris University, having won at Wagner early Sunday afternoon, could wind up playing fifth-seeded Quinnipiac in the Northeast Conference Tournament championship game at the Charles L. Sewall Center Wednesday night.

That possibility would become a reality if Quinnipiac could win at top-seeded LIU Brooklyn Sunday evening.

And for 33 minutes of that game, the possibility began edging toward probability. In the final seven minutes, however, LIU Brooklyn rallied from an eight-point deficit and won, 78-75.

Thus, for the second straight year, Robert Morris will play at LIU Brooklyn for the NEC championship.

"We're excited to be there,'' RMU head coach Andrew Toole said.

Toole and his team watched the Quinnipiac/LIU Brooklyn game at their hotel 10 minutes away from Wagner on Staten Island, N.Y., gathered in a meeting room with a large-screen television.

"I don't think the guys had a rooting interest either way,'' Toole said. "A couple guys said something about how nice it would be to play at home, but mostly people were just observing the game, watching the game as fans.''

But not just your average fans, mind you. The Colonials watched that game secure in the knowledge they'd play in the championship game for the fourth consecutive year no matter where it would be played.

They achieved that with a 71-64 win at Wagner in a two and-a-half hour foul fest that produced 59 personal fouls, two technical fouls on Wagner players and 80 free throw attempts.

"The game didn't have a lot of flow,'' Toole said. "But you have to figure out a way to win with the way the game's being reffed, and we found a way.''

By halftime, Colonials Velton Jones and Anthony Myers each had three fouls. Robert Morris had been called for 16 personal fouls. Wagner had shot 24 free throws.

It seemed by the end of the game, Robert Morris would have at least a few players sitting on its bench with five fouls, but Toole pulled a Houdini to escape being in that situation.

"A lot of times you foul because you're tired and you're out of position and your mind gets slow,'' Toole said. "We tried to sub in 90-second or two-minute cycles to keep them fresh and keep guys alert.''

That worked. No Colonial fouled out - although six had four fouls at game's end.

All the foul trouble did not prevent the Colonials from continually cleaning the glass. They had a 46-33 rebounding edge which included a staggering 22 offensive rebounds. Junior Lijah Thompson had eight offensive rebounds.

"About four of those were his own misses,'' Toole said. "He pulled a Wilt Chamberlain.''

"We both anticipated a hard-fought defensive struggle,'' Wagner coach Dan Hurley said. "The difference probably was their rebounding. And I think their championship experience showed.''

Robert Morris (24-9) won the NEC Tournament championship in 2009 and 2010 before losing in the title game in overtime last season. Over the past four seasons, the Colonials are 10-1 in the NEC Tournament.

"I think we knew what we were getting into,'' Toole said. "We knew Wagner's will would be incredible, so ours had to be spectacular. Down the stretch, I think our guys are confident because they have experience there. They've been there before.''

That experience showed in the timeout huddles as the game near its conclusion.

"Lijah, Russell (Johnson) and I have played in some big games like this,'' Jones said. "That helped us a lot. We said, 'We've been here before. Be composed and finish out the game.'''

"For the three years he's been playing, he's been a player who's always risen in games like this,'' Hurley said. "He has NCAA (tournament) experience. He has serious playoff experience. He had a great game. His 25 points were big for them in a defensive struggle.''

"He's an elite player,'' Wagner guard Kenneth Ortiz told the Staten Island Advance.

Ortiz and Jones were involved in one of the biggest plays of the game with 30 seconds remaining. Robert Morris led by three points when Jones shot-faked beyond the arc at the right elbow. Ortiz went for the fake and wound up being called for his fifth foul as Jones got off a shot.

Jones went to the free throw line with these thoughts: "Don't mess up for my team. Don't worry about the crowd. Be composed and just knock them down. Finish these free throws, and we have a chance to finish out the game.''

Jones did just that, making all three free throws and giving the Colonials a 68-62 lead.

Jones' performance Sunday was a 180-degree turnaround from the game he had at Wagner Feb. 2 when the Seahawks beat RMU 80-69. That night, Jones was 2-of-15 from the field, including 2-for-8 from deep, and scored only nine points.

"I didn't think about that game,'' Jones said. "I just wanted to make the right plays (Sunday).''

In that game at Wagner in February, the Colonials had trouble scoring early and fell behind, 14-2. They had similar difficulties scoring early Sunday, making just two of their first 12 field goal attempts.

"We had a chance in the first half to really take control of the game,'' Hurley said.

That didn't happen because "we defended like crazy,'' Toole said.

The Colonials reached halftime down by only 31-29 points despite making just eight of 34 field goal attempts.

"Really, it was our defensive energy,'' Toole said.

"Their style of defense has always been a problem for us,'' Hurley said. "At the end of the day, you have to get some shots to fall.''

The Seahawks (25-6) didn't shoot well in the first half (7-for-20) and wound up shooting 34.8 percent from the field on the afternoon. That's their second-worst of the season. They shot only 33.9 percent against Hofstra Dec. 6 but did win 58-43.

The Colonials Sunday quickly bolted to a 40-32 lead in the second half.

"We were finally able to get into an offensive flow,'' Toole said. "We started scoring on some layups and put-backs and getting something inside. I was proud of the way the guys stuck with it until we got there.''

The Colonials successfully held off every Seahawk challenge thereafter.

"Sometimes when you want to do well so badly - when you want something so much - you get in your own way,'' Hurley said.

Or the Colonials do.

Wagner cut its deficit to 43-40, but a Jones layup and a Russell Johnson tip-in gave the Colonials a 47-40 lead with 9:39 left.

"Russell was excellent, no doubt about it,'' Toole said. "It might have been his most poised game. He was terrific.''

A few minutes later, Wagner trimmed the Colonials' lead to 49-45, but a Lucky Jones field goal and two free throws by Velton Jones made it 53-45 with 6:11 remaining.

Finally, the Seahawks got to within 65-62, but along came Velton Jones and his three free throws with 30 seconds left, and that was that.

Said Wagner senior guard Tyler Murray: "They're worthy of going to the finals this year.''

Again.

NOTES: The Colonials closed out the game in style, making 12-of-15 free-throw attempts in the final 1:57. For the game, Robert Morris was 30-of-40 at the stripe. Wagner made 27-of-40 free-throw attempts ... Fouls also were a factor in the Quinnipiac/LIU Brooklyn game. Quinnipiac was called for 28 personals - 11 more than the Blackbirds, who were 22-of-30 at the stripe. The Bobcats were 5-of-10. "If you watched the game with your eyes, I don't think the free throw disparity should be that big,'' Quinnipiac coach Tom Moore told the New Haven Register ... Velton Jones' point total for the season stands at 549, the sixth-highest in a season in program history. Just ahead is Chipper Harris, who scored 553 points in the 1983-84 season ... Hurley thinks Wagner could get a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. "When you win 25 games and you lose in your conference semifinals to a team that has now won 24 games, I think you should get strong consideration,'' he told the Staten Island Advance.