Game recap: #FEEDTHEBEAST lifts RMU to huge road win

Karvel Anderson dropped 32 in RMU's win at Bryant (p/c: Justin Berl)

RMU improved to 2-0 in conference play with a 71-67 victory at Bryant. This is one of the best games I’ve ever seen covering RMU.

It was a tight one the whole way. The beginning of the game was played with great tempo and lots of baskets. Bryant’s Alex Francis set the tone early making some tough shots in the paint. On the Colonials side, Karvel Anderson did whatever he wanted. He was hitting 24 foot three pointers with hands in his face, getting to the basket, dishing to teammates… you name it, he was doing it.

RMU had as much as an eight point lead in the first half but Bryant fought back by grinding out points. Bryant star guard Dyami Starks was ice cold, scoring only two points in the first half.

The second half started with plenty of energy and lots of misses. RMU started off 1-13 from the field and found themselves down four multiple times through the half. Things started getting extra interesting in the second half when Karvel Anderson and Chuck Oliver traded off three pointers to tie the game. The players on both teams were feeding off of each other. I too was feeding off the energy, doing wind sprints in my apartment during media timeouts to try and remain calm (kidding, I was doing laundry).

The game was tied with 40 seconds left until Karvel Anderson decided enough was enough. He got the ball with the shot clock winding down, faced a double team, picked up his dribble, then split said double team to hit a jump shot from theelbow. Bryant tried to push it down the court for an alley-oop but Stephan Hawkins swatted it away. The game should have been over after that but with 18 seconds left RMU couldn’t inbound the ball and gave it back to the Bulldogs. Starks missed a tough three pointer, Karvel Anderson hit two more free throws, and we were done.

More thoughts:

-Karvel Anderson: 32 points on 12-24 shooting. This is fresh off a game where he had 36 and five. Per Andrew Chiappazzi, Anderson is the first Colonial with back to back 30 point games since Gene Nabors in the 2000 NEC tournament. Think he’s winning NEC player of the week?

-Mike McFadden did not play today. Stephan Hawkins and Aaron Tate played the middle of the zone and weren’t great but did enough when it mattered most. It was a really good job by the team rebounding game.

-Lucky Jones did not have a good game. Even still, RMU just won two road conference games without him finding a groove. That speaks a lot to how the team played.

-There’s really not a whole lot to add. This was a HUGE road win. I know it’s only January, but sweeping Bryant could potentially decide home court advantage in the NEC. That was an incredible game and a great team effort.

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella