CINCINNATI, OHIO— The beginning of the new season sparks excitement for everyone, from coaches to players to fans. The Colonials had that excitement written all over them as they traveled to take on Big East powerhouse Xavier.
The Colonials opened up the game, firing on all cylinders and taking the lead early, scoring 14-9 inside the first 10 minutes. But when Xavier heated up, they went on a roll and took down the Colonials by a score of 77-63.
There is a lot to be proud of if you are Coach Andy Toole, and there are a lot of positives that you can take from this and build on towards the rest of the season. Toole had some initial thoughts on how the game went for his team tonight.
“[We had] some good stretches, just not enough,” Toole said. “I think they wore us down with their size, strength, and ability to put the ball in the paint. We knew that would be an issue, and it was. I thought there were a lot of times where we fought well, but we couldn’t sustain that effort over 40 minutes.”
One of the bright spots of the game was Justice Williams. The LSU transfer was the team’s leading scorer on the night, with 21 points and three assists.
“He did a lot of good stuff. It’s got to be that consistency. You’ve got to be able to do it day in and day out. Night in and night out,” Coach Toole said. “Sometimes there’s going to be an opportunity for you to get downhill and make some of the plays he made. In other games, we might see some different coverages, and we have to be able to adjust and adapt. He did a lot of really good things.”
After being hurt and unable to play in the exhibition, Stephaun Walker played his first action of the season tonight. In 33 minutes tonight, he could put up 11 points on 4 for 12 shooting and tallied eight rebounds.
Head Coach Andy Toole had some thoughts on what he saw from Stephaun Walker tonight.
“He did some great stuff,” Toole said. “A couple finishes in the first half I’m sure he would like back; he did a lot of positive stuff, and he will continue to get better.”
In his regular season debut, Markeese Hastings led the team in rebounds and was the team’s second leader scorer with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
This team will become more fluid in their offensive game as the season goes on. Having stretches of not scoring throughout the game is not good, and it just comes down to that consistency that Andy Toole talks about with his team.
The consistency comes with more game time and will get better. The Colonials were held scoreless in the final 4:21 in the game, and that was a contributing factor to the Colonials’ loss tonight.
Robert Morris will return home on Thursday, Nov. 9, to face off against Point Park for the squad’s home opener, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
