Survive, move on.

Jeremiah Worthem stepped up as RMU
survived 73-68 (p/c Josh Verlin).

It wasn't pretty, but RMU survived and stayed perfect in NEC play with a comeback win over St Francis PA, 73-68.

With Mount St Mary's win over Wagner, RMU is in sole possession of first place, and remain the only undefeated team in the league at 3-0, (8-10 overall).

The Colonials were rolling along, as Karvel Anderson hit a step back three with the buzzer sounding to send the team into the break with a 12 point lead, 38-26.

RMU traded baskets at the start of the second half, but the defense did not look good, allowing easy high post entries and wide open threes.

The Red Flash took advantage, and the Colonials went cold. A 14 point lead, turned into an 11 point deficit.

Ben Millaud-Meunier (17 points, 5-8 from three) and Malik Harmon (21 points, 8-11 overall) started knocking down threes, and Earl Brown (11 points, 7 rebounds) did damage on the post, and it appeared RMU was about to lose maybe the ugliest game in the Toole era.

Sr. G Karvel Anderson: "We were slow on some of our rotations. They have shooters all around the perimeter, & we just had to stay urgent."
— RMU Men's Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) January 17, 2014

Then RMU woke up, and showed some fight, something that Toole will love seeing, despite the collapse.

Anderson hit a three, Jeremiah Worthem chipped in with the biggest shot of his RMU career, knocking down another three to get RMU within one, and then Ant Myers-Pate hit a long two to give the Colonials the lead.

A few clutch free throws by Anderson and Worthem, and RMU survived.

Anderson fished with 22 points on 7-14 shooting, Worthem finished with 10 points and four rebounds, and Myers-Pate four points and four assists.

Luck Jones, who hit a couple big shots including a corner three as RMU made their comeback, finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Thoughts:

First off: Whewwwww. That was close. Nice win, but shouldn't have been that close. With that said, what heart to not fall down and stay down. The team got punched in the face, multiple times, and got back up and won the fight. 3-0 is 3-0.

Second: Awesome crowd. The Crazies were loud, I could here you guys through the NEC Front Row stream, and I truly think it helped the team comeback. After Worthem splashed that three, it was the loudest that building has been since that UK game. Well done students, keep up the good work. Next weeks home games are MASSIVE vs Sacred Heart/Wagner. Especially that game Saturday.

Lucky: I'd like to thank all the fans that came out tonight. I don't think we win without them coming out
— Chris Cappella (@C_Cappella) January 17, 2014

Loudest the Sewall Center has been since the Kentucky game...not a bad showing. #RMU
— Andrew Chiappazzi (@achiappazzi) January 17, 2014

Third: RMU put it into coast mode, and it almost cost them. In this zone, the team needs to be active, once they started playing with less energy out of the half, SFPA had easy looks all over the court. Credit to them, they hit some deep threes, but RMU needs to maintain that active energy for a complete 40 if this zone is going to work.

More to come later....Nice win. Huge game at the Mount on Saturday, 2pm tip NEC Front Row.

Lucky Jones said Jeremiah Worthem is the best freshman in the NEC. Heaped a lot of praise on him. #RMU
— Craig Meyer (@CraigMeyerPG) January 17, 2014

--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5