Enter the Morgue: RMU vs the Mount

Robert Morris (15-11, 10-1) vs Mount St Mary's (10-13, 6-4)
When: Saturday February 15th, 4pm
Where: Charles L. Sewall Center, Moon Twp PA
KenPom: RMU 145, Mount 228
Link: NEC Front Row
Storyline: The Colonials look to push their current win streak to four games, as the Mount comes to town looking for a big win to separate them from the middle of the NEC. The last time the Mountaineers came to the Chuck, they stunned the Colonials, knocking them out of the NEC tournament.

No Excuses:

I'm looking at you Colonial Crazies. This is a HUGE game. Sure, a win helps RMU get that much closer to securing the NEC regular season title, but this game has way more meaning. This team came to the Chuck last year, and ended the Colonials season. Not to mention Mount still remains one of the Colonials biggest rivals.

Bring your A game Crazies.

Then there was the whole "morgue" comment by the Mount radio broadcast from their fist meeting a few weeks ago. For those that don't know, the Mount color guy said the Colonials played with a lot of energy because there was a good crowd that day. He went on to say that RMU plays with a lot more energy because there is NEVER any energy in Moon, and that the Chuck is a "morgue."

Bring it Crazies.

Getting to Know the Mount:

Not too much has changed for the Mount since the last meeting. That's saying a lot, given all the roster movement and suspensions in the NEC.

The team lost a heartbreaker up at Bryant last Saturday. They fought back late, but didn't have enough in the tank to hold on and beat the Bulldogs. That loss halted a three game winning streak. Their last game, a re-match against Bryant, was postponed because of the storm that hit the Northeast. They currently sit at 6-4, tied for third in the league with Wagner and St Francis. They could realistically finish as high as second, or as low as even seventh.

Julian Norfleet remains their top weapon. He's averaging just over 18 points-per-game and will once again be the focal point for the Colonials. In the first matchup, the Colonials did a great job holding Norfleet to 11 points on 4-11 shooting.

Rashad Whack is averaging 17 points-per-game, and dropped 22 on the Colonials a few weeks ago. He's a VERY streaky shooter, so it's important that RMU pressure him early and get him out of rhythm.

Mount loves to get out and run and will use that patented full court press to speed up the game. There is a pretty simple formula to keep the game at a slower pace.

Get stops.

Mount can only set up that press after made baskets, so getting stops will limit their ability to pressure and make the game chaotic. The more organized the game is, the better for RMU.

Loaded Luck:

The junior swingman has come on strong the past two games, especially in the first half. Teams have come out with the mindset "we're not going to allow Karvel Anderson to beat us." Lucky Jones has taken full advantage. He scored 18 points in the first half against St Francis Brooklyn, and once again came out strong against the Red Flash, scoring the teams first six points.

I expect another strong start for Lucky. It looks like that jump shot is starting to come back to him, and that's a scary thought. He has still played well this year, and that's while struggling to shoot a bit. It was always going to be tough matching his performance last season, where he shot over 50 percent from three in NEC play, but he can still improve a bit.

Myers Pate has the Colonials clicking
on all cylinders.

Lucky brings so much to the table, especially since being asked to essentially play the power forward position since the suspension of Jeremiah Worthem, but as the NEC tournament approaches, I expect Luck to elevate his game just a bit more.

Speaking of Worthem:

In the star freshman's last game in a Colonial uniform before his year long suspension, he had by far his best game. He scored 21 points on 7-11 shooting and made all six of his attempts from the charity stripe against against Mount St Mary's.

The Mount will be very happy not to see the star Freshman in the rematch, but it's not all good news for the visitors. Their defense is still giving up a poultry 108.6 points-per-100 possessions. RMU's offense is still scoring at a very efficient rate, dropping 114.7 points-per-100 possessions in conference play. That's the second best rate in the NEC.

Expect Ant Myers-Pate, who's playing some GREAT basketball and Kavon Stewart, who's coming on very strong, to get guys like Anderson, Jones, and Chuck Oliver lot's of open shots.

--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5