MOON TOWNSHIP – Andy Toole and his team looked to get a better team effort as they welcomed one of the better mid-major schools in Purdue Fort Wayne.
There was a strong sense of a flashback moment from this Colonial offense as they opened up the game with two turnovers in the first two possessions and ultimately ended with 13 in the first half and a total of 25 for the game.
Head Coach Andy Toole shared his thoughts on his team’s ability not to control the ball tonight.
“We were so weak with the ball, we were just weak,” Toole said. “We talked going into the game on how you can’t float passes. We floated numerous passes. You have to be strong on your catch. We have to continue to work on that and get better and be strong with the basketball.”
The effort was a big difference in opening up the ballgame as the Colonials came out and put together a solid defensive performance to start the game, unlike Wednesday night. Effort and hustle played a major role in what the Colonials were able to take a lead into halftime.
“Regardless of who your opponent is, it comes down to how you carry yourself and how you execute your game plan and what you are about,” Toole said. “That’s what we have talked about the last two days. What is your character as an individual player, and what is your character as a team? We continue to fight and when you continue to fight, you get a chance.”
After Wednesday night, giving up so many points early and digging themselves a hole that ultimately was too much for them to get out of, the Colonials came out with a much better defensive performance, and behind that performance was the effort.
Coach Toole spoke on the team’s defensive start to the game compared to Wednesday.
“We tried, and that’s what you must be able to do,” Toole said. “You have to be able to give the proper effort, and that is step one, like the price of admission, and I thought we gave the right effort.”
Josh Corbin can turn on like a switch and did just that tonight. He led the Colonials to victory in this game, scoring 28 points, going 9-15 from the field and 8-12 from outside the arc.
“For me, it was to be aggressive,” Corbin said. “Take what the defense gave me, knowing that me shooting the ball opens up things for other players, I’ve seen that in the past. Forgetting the last game, it’s over with. It’s on to the next, and knowing my coaches have confidence in me,. My players have confidence in me, and every shot I shoot, they tell me it’s going in. My teammates do a great job at setting screens and getting me open. It felt great.”
With that mentality, Corbin was able to hit a three to send the Colonials to overtime. All about team play today, Corbin was able to be wide open from a screen set by Stephaun Walker.
“Amazing screen from Steph. It kind of shocked me for a second how wide open I was,” Corbin said. “I hesitated for a second because I was like, there is no way I’m this open. We drew it ourselves; this is something we do at every walkthrough, going out and executing it and having unselfish players play their role. It was executed perfectly.”
Once Corbin hit the big three to send the Colonials into OT, it became a five-minute back-and-forth until it came down to the final two seconds. An inbound pass from Jackson Last got deflected and ended up in the hands of Markeese Hastings, and he could put it down.
“I was ready; the play was drawn up for a full-court pass and got it to JC [Josh Corbin]. Fortunately the defender bobbled it and I was ready to make the next play, and that’s what I did, caught it turned around and shot it, just a no brainer; clock winding down and just trying to make a winning play,” Hastings said.
Robert Morris will return to the court on Wednesday for a home matchup against Detroit Mercy, with a tip set for 7 p.m.
