In a rematch of Wednesday nights contest in Loretto, Pennsylvania, the Robert Morris University men’s basketball team cruised past SFU 70-56 Saturday night at the Charles L. Sewall Center as part of the Northeast Conference “Rivalry Week.”
Coron Williams led the Colonials with 18 points, including a 4-6 performance from beyond the arc, while Velton Jones and Mike McFadden added 13 and 11 tallies respectively.
With the 14 point win, RMU improves to 19-8 overall, with a 10-4 mark in NEC play and clinched a spot in the conference tournament for the ninth consecutive season.
Despite shooting nearly 49% from the floor, Saint Francis was unable to secure the victory and falls to 5-20 overall on the 2011-2012 campaign.
According to Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole, the Colonials played well in its back-to-back contests against the Red Flash.
“I thought that our guys did a pretty good job showing some maturity and being able to get themselves together to play a team back-to-back,” stated Toole of his teams’ four and 14 point victories against in its in-state rival. “It’s really hard to do that, especially when there’s no significant change in either team.”
SFU took an early 4-0 lead courtesy of two Earl Brown layups, but the Colonials jumped out to an 8-6 advantage five minutes in and never looked back. Robert Morris would eventually lead by as many as 13 points late in the first half, but the Red Flash trimmed the lead to seven early in the final frame, but was unable to come any closer.
“We defended a little more like we’re used to,” added Toole. “Obviously they are a good offensive team but to be able to speed things up and turn it over was a huge factor in the game.”
Despite the fact that sophomore guard Anthony Myers only dropped six points on the Red Flash defense in his 26 minutes of playing time, coach Toole believes that he was a major reason why the Colonials were able to come away with the victory.
“His stats may not have indicated it, but he was a guy who created a lot of offense. He was terrific and we need him to continue to play that way in order for us to be a good team.”
Although his team is in the midst of a three game winning streak, Toole believes that there are still a few things that need to be improved upon for the remainder of the season.
“We have to worry about us getting better, us working harder, us cleaning up some of our mistakes and getting guys more solid defensively.”
Robert Morris finishes up a three game home stand against Bryant and Central Connecticut State on February 16 and 18 respectively, before ending the regular season on the road against Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac the following week.
