Game Notes (PDF)
GAME #31
Robert Morris (19-11, 14-1 NEC) @ Wagner (17-11, 11-4 NEC)
Saturday, March 1, 2014 • 6:00 p.m.
Spiro Sports Center (2,100) • Staten Island, N.Y.
TV: Root Sports
TV Talent: Dave Popkin (play-by-play) & Terry O'Connor (color)
Radio: 970 ESPN AM
Radio Talent: Chris Shovlin (play-by-play) & Jim Duzyk (color)
Follow RMU Men's Basketball on Twitter and Instagram: RMUMBasketball
Top Story - The
Robert Morris University men's basketball team wraps up the 2013-14 regular season Saturday with a 6:00 p.m. tip against Wagner at the Spiro Sports Center on Staten Island, N.Y., in a game that will be televised live on Root Sports. Winners of seven straight, the Colonials are coming off a 69-64 victory @ Fairleigh Dickinson (2/27/14), as RMU outscored the Knights, 22-2, over the final 8:34 of action to erase a 15-point deficit and earn the win. Senior guard
Karvel Anderson paced Robert Morris in the victory over FDU with 22 points, while junior forward
Lucky Jones registered his fifth double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 13 points and 10 rebounds while also recording a career-high four blocks. Senior guard
Anthony Myers-Pate added 12 points and three assists in the win. Robert Morris, which has clinched the No. 1 seed in the 2014 NEC Tournament, will host a quarterfinal game at the Charles L. Sewall Center Wednesday, March 5, in a 7:00 p.m. tip against an opponent to be determined.
Quick Stat of the Night - Junior forward
Lucky Jones posted his fifth double-double of the season and seventh of his career in a 69-64 victory @ Fairleigh Dickinson (2/27/14) thanks to 13 points and 10 rebounds and has been remarkably consistent on the glass not only in 2013-14, but throughout his career. Thanks to his 10 boards against the Knights, Jones pushed his season total in caroms to 202. It marks the third straight year that Jones that has eclipsed the 200-rebound plateau, the first player in school history to turn the trick. In 99 career games, Jones has compiled 618 rebounds, which ranks seventh all-time at Robert Morris. Since grabbing just two rebounds in RMU's 2013-14 Northeast Conference opener @ Sacred Heart (1/9/14), Jones has averaged 8.3 rebounds per contest over his last 14 games while supplying 12.6 points per game and has a shot, barring injury, of becoming the program's all-time leading rebounder next season.
Saturday's Opponent and The All-Time Series - Robert Morris and Wagner square off on the hardwood for the 63rd time Saturday, with the Colonials holding a 38-24 (.613) edge in the all-time series. In the opening game of the 2013-14 season series, RMU posted a 74-70 win at the Charles L. Sewall Center (1/25/14). In that contest, Robert Morris used a 13-2 run to grab its biggest lead of the game, 61-55, with 7:36 to play. Senior guard
Anthony Myers-Pate hit a three-pointer with 3:46 to go to give the Colonials a 66-62 edge, and Robert Morris would go 8-for-10 at the free-throw line in the final minute and-a-half to seal the victory. Senior guard
Karvel Anderson led all scorers with 21 points for RMU, converting seven of his 13 shots from the field, including 4-of-8 from deep, while going 3-for-4 at the free-throw line.
Mission Accomplished - Many have tried over the years, and many have failed. Yet senior guard
Karvel Anderson was the one that came through and established a new RMU single-season school record that had stood for almost a quarter of a century. Thanks to a trio of three-pointers in a 71-70 overtime victory over St. Francis Brooklyn (2/22/14), Anderson set a new single-season record for triples and on the year owns 99. That total surpassed the old single-season school record of 93 that was established by former guard Scott Shepherd (1988-91) during the 1988-89 campaign. In 63 career contests, Anderson has drilled 181 three-pointers, an average of 2.87 per game that would also establish a new career record. He enters Saturday's game ranked fifth in NCAA Division I in three-point field goal percentage (46.7%) and 11th in the three-point field goals made per game (3.30).
Dynamic Duo - While senior guard
Karvel Anderson has been RMU's leading scorer so far this season thanks in large part to his ability to convert from beyond the arc, junior forward
Lucky Jones has developed into a solid outside shooter, as well. Jones enters Saturday's game @ Wagner ranked 14th in the Northeast Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.369) and 10th in three-point field goals made per game (1.86). Through 30 games of the 2013-14 campaign, the duo of Anderson and Jones has combined for 154 three-pointers, an average of 5.13 per game. The pair are on pace to finish the regular season with 159 triples, which would establish a new single-season school record for three-pointers by a Robert Morris tandem.
Double Nickel On A Dime - Senior guard
Anthony Myers-Pate recorded a trio of assists in a 69-64 win @ Fairleigh Dickinson (2/27/14), helping him move into eighth place all-time at Robert Morris for career dimes. Myers-Pate enters Saturday's game @ Wagner with 434 career assists, the ninth player in school history with 400 career dimes, and so far this season owns 119 assists against 46 turnovers. He ranks third in the NEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.59) while ranking eighth in the circuit in assists per game (3.97).
Defense Wins Championships - At the heart of the resurgence of the Robert Morris basketball program over the last seven seasons has been defense. Thanks to a 69-64 win @ Fairleigh Dickinson RMU improved to 121-23 (.840) since the beginning of the 2007-08 campaign when holding its opponent to less than 70 points. In four seasons under head coach
Andrew Toole, the Colonials are 70-16 (.814) when turning the trick.
Comeback Kids - Robert Morris continues to have a flair for the dramatic in the waning days of the 2013-14 regular season. Winners of seven consecutive games, RMU enters Saturday's regular-season finale @ Wagner having climbed out of a double-digit deficit in the second half in each of their last three victories. In a 69-64 win @ Fairleigh Dickinson (2/27/14) in their last contest, the Colonials erased a 15-point deficit in the second half, 62-47, with 8:34 to play by outscoring the Knights, 22-2, the rest of the game. The win marked the 14th time Robert Morris has climbed out of a double-digit deficit to earn a victory in four seasons under head coach
Andrew Toole, including the fifth occasion in 2013-14.
Grand Central Station - Senior guard
Karvel Anderson and junior forward
Lucky Jones enter Saturday's 2013-14 regular season finale @ Wagner having combined for 994 points this season, just six points shy of becoming the second RMU duo in school history to combine for at least 1,000 points in a season. During the 1991-92 campaign, former guard Myron Walker (1990-94) and former forward Ricky Cannon (1987-92) combined for 1,028 points in helping lead the Colonials to an overall record of 19-12 (.613), including a mark of 12-4 (.750) in the Northeast Conference. Walker finished with a single-season school record 614 points that season, while Cannon added 414 points. That squad claimed its third NEC tournament championship in four years and advanced to play Arizona in the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
There's An App For That - No member of Robert Morris has benefitted more from its current eight-man rotation than junior guard
David Appolon, who is playing arguably his best basketball in an RMU uniform in recent weeks. Over the last four games, Appolon has averaged 9.0 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 64 percent (16-for-25) from the field. Included in that stretch, Appolon has established career highs in both points (13) and rebounds (9) in a 73-64 win over LIU Brooklyn (2/20/14). Since earning a spot in the starting lineup in a 91-65 win over Sacred Heart (1/23/14), Appolon has averaged 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds over his last 11 games while shooting 49.1 percent (28-for-57) from the field, a stretch in which RMU owns a record of 10-1 (.909).
Protect The Rock - No member of the Colonials has done a better job of protecting the basketball in recent weeks than senior guard
Anthony Myers-Pate. As the Northeast Conference regular season winds down, Myers-Pate has posted 87 assists against just 30 turnovers in his last 22 games, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.90. Myers-Pate is threatening to shatter the RMU single-season record in assist-to-turnover ratio, as he enters Saturday's game @ Wagner ranked third the NEC in the category at 2.59. The single-season mark of 2.29 was established by former RMU point guard Wade Timmerson (1988-92) during the 1990-91 campaign. Myers-Pate also ranks second in the Robert Morris career record book for assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.99, trailing only Timmerson (2.02).
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 63 career games with the Colonials, Anderson has scored 999 points, an average of 15.9 points per contest. At his current scoring average (19.5 ppg), Anderson is on pace to conclude the 2013-14 regular season with 1,019 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. Anderson would be the 23rd member of the Robert Morris 1,000-point club.
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 Saturday's game @ Wagner with 586 points so far in 2013-14. Based on his current scoring average (19.5 ppg), Anderson is on pace the finish the regular season with 606 points, which would rank second in the RMU single-season record book. He would enter the 2014 NEC Tournament trailing only Myron Walker, who scored 614 points as a sophomore in 1991-92.
