Game Notes (PDF)
GAME#29
St. Francis Brooklyn (16-12, 7-6 NEC) vs. RMU (17-11, 12-1 NEC)
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014 • 4:00 p.m.
Charles L. Sewall Center (3,056) • Moon Township, Pa.
Radio: 970 ESPN AM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) & Jim Elias (color)
Follow RMU Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram: RMUMBasketball
Top Story - The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team concludes a three-game homestand Saturday when it welcomes St. Francis Brooklyn to the Charles L. Sewal Center for a 4:00 p.m. tip. The Colonials, winners of five straight, are coming off a 73-64 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/20/14) as senior guard
Karvel Anderson scored each of his game-high 26 points in the second half to help RMU post a come-from-behind win. Robert Morris trailed, 58-48, with 6:53 to play, but closed the game on a 25-6 run to earn the victory. Also scoring in double figures for the Colonials against the Blackbirds was junior guard
David Appolon, who established career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (9). Junior guard
Charles Oliver contributed 12 points off the bench, while junior forward
Lucky Jones added 10 points and eight boards. Thanks to the win over LIU Brooklyn, RMU clinched at least a share of the 2014 Northeast Conference regular-season championship. The Colonials take to the road for their final two regular-season contests after hosting the Terriers Saturday, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. tip @ Fairleigh Dickinson Thursday, Feb. 27.
Quick Stat of the Night - Senior guard
Karvel Anderson put forth one of the most explosive scoring bursts in school history in a 73-64 win over LIU Brooklyn (2/20/14) at the Charles L. Sewall Center, scoring 20 points in the final 6:43 of action to help lift the Colonials to a come-from-behind victory. In all, Anderson finished the game with 26 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field, including 5-for-5 from deep, and a 5-for-6 performance at the free-throw line, all of which came after halftime. Anderson's outburst marks the most points scored in a half in school history, eclipsing the 25 points that former Colonial Gene Nabors (1995-2000) scored in the second half of an 80-61 win over Mount St. Mary's in the semifinals of the 2000 Northeast Conference Tournament in Trenton, N.J., at Sovereign Bank Arena (3/4/00). Nabors scored 10 points in the first half in helping RMU build a 32-29 halftime lead before scoring 25 points after the break.
Saturday's Opponent and The All-Time Series - Saturday marks the 67th meeting between St. Francis Brooklyn and Robert Morris, with the Colonials holding a 40-26 (.606) edge in the all-time series. In the first game of the 2013-14 season series, Robert Morris posted a 72-50 win in Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., at the Pope P.E. Center (2/8/14). In that contest RMU jumped out to a 39-26 halftime advantage en route to the victory behind junior forward
Lucky Jones, who scored 18 points before the break by converting seven of his eight attempts from the field, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Jones didn't score in the second half, with senior guard
Karvel Anderson picking up the offensive slack, scoring all of his 13 points after intermission. Also finishing in double figures for the Colonials was sophomore forward Stephan Hawkins, who contributed 11 points.
Comeback Kids - Robert Morris posted a 73-64 victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/20/14) by climbing out of a 16-point deficit in the second half to earn its fifth straight victory. The Colonials trailed, 46-30, with 17:11 to play and were also behind, 58-48, with 6:53 remaining before closing the game on a 25-6 run to earn the win. It marks the 12th time RMU has climbed out of a double-digit deficit to earn a victory in four seasons under head coach
Andrew Toole, including the third time in 2013-14. The come-from-behind win marks the largest deficit RMU has erased in a Northeast Conference game since Jan. 10, 2000, when the Colonials came back from 19 down, 53-34, with 14:55 to play to earn a 73-63 win over St. Francis Brooklyn at the Charles L. Sewall Center. In that game RMU outscored the Terriers, 39-10, to post the win. The largest deficit ever Robert Morris has come back from came Nov. 25, 2008, at the Sewall Center, when the Colonials closed the game on a 40-15 run to earn a 74-72 victory over Youngstown State after trailing, 57-34, with 16:07 to play.
There's An App For That - David Appolon was a key piece for Robert Morris in earning a 73-64 come-from-behind victory over LIU Brooklyn (2/20/14), as the junior guard established career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (9) in the win. He shot 6-for-10 from the field in the victory over the Blackbirds, and of his nine caroms, five came on the offensive glass. Since earning a spot in the starting lineup in a 91-65 win over Sacred Heart (1/23/14), Appolon has averaged 6.1 points and 5.8 rebounds over his last nine games while shooting 42.6 percent (20-for-47) from the field. He's also dished out 14 assists against just one turnover during that span, and during that stretch Robert Morris owns a record of 8-1 (.889).
Wouldn't It Be Grand - Senior guard
Karvel Anderson is scoring at a pace not seen at Robert Morris in a long time, and the transfer from Glen Oaks Community College has a shot of joining the RMU 1,000-point club this season. In 61 career games with the Colonials, Anderson has scored 946 points, an average of 15.5 points per contest. At his current scoring average (19.0 ppg), Anderson is on pace to conclude the 2013-14 regular season with 1,003 career points. Anderson could be just the third player in school history to eclipse 1,000 points while playing just two seasons at Robert Morris. The only other Division I player to turn the trick at RMU was former guard Gene Nabors (1995-2000), who scored 1,029 points with the Colonials from 1998 to 2000 after transferring from Louisiana State University (LSU). The first player to accomplish the feat was junior college guard Don Mackey, who scored 1,034 points from 1963 to 1965.
Rise Up - Senior guard
Karvel Anderson continues to the move up the rankings in a number of different top 10 lists in single-season history at Robert Morris this year, and he has a shot of challenging the program's single-season mark for points scored. One of just eight players in school history to eclipse the 500-point plateau in a season, Anderson enters Thursday's game against St. Francis Brooklyn with 533 points so far in 2013-14. Based on his current scoring average (19.0 ppg), Anderson is on pace the finish the regular season with 590 points, which would rank third in the RMU single-season record book. He would enter the 2014 NEC Tournament trailing only Myron Walker, who scored 614 points in 1991-92, and
Velton Jones, who finished with 591 points in 2011-12.
Shooter - Senior guard
Karvel Anderson enters Saturday's game against St. Francis Brooklyn as RMU's leading scorer, producing an average of 19.0 points per game, and is threatening to establish a new single-season school record for three-pointers. Anderson, who leads the NEC in three-point field goals made per game (3.29), is on pace to conclude the 2013-14 regular season with 102 triples. That total would eclipse the single-season school record of 93 that was established by former guard Scott Shepherd (1988-91) as a sophomore in 1988-89 and has stood for almost 25 years. In 61 career contests, Anderson has drilled 174 three-pointers, an average of 2.85 per game that would establish a new career record. He enters Saturday's game ranked third in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal percentage (48.4%) and tied for 10th in the three-point field goals made per game.
