Recap: BOW DOWN TO GREATNESS BECAUSE WE ARE NOT WORTHY

To begin, a haiku:

Karvel Anderson

wow wow wow wow wow wow wow

wow wow wow wow wow

RMU (17-11, 12-1) defeated Long Island (8-17, 3-9) by a score of 73-64. Robert Morris trailed by 16 in the second half.

Things started out kinda well for RMU. I say "kinda" because RMU found themselves up seven halfway through the first half but weren't really moving the ball, Lucky Jones hit some early shots then went cold, and Karvel Anderson refused to shoot. Then the worst thing possible happened: Stephan Hawkins went down with an ankle injury.

Mamba, #15.

Stephan Hawkins is the most irreplaceable player on the team. That's not to say he's the best, but there's no more 6'9" centers coming off the bench. If Karvel were to get hurt, Chuck Oliver comes in. If Ant Myers gets hurt, Kavon Stewart and David Appolon run the point. When Stephan Hawkins gets hurt, coach Toole is the next tallest guy in the program. 

Anyway, Hawk sprained his ankle (no update on that) and LIU just went banana's. It went from 24-17 RMU to 39-29 LIU at half. Toole must have been pissed at Aaron Tate for something because Lucky Jones played the five entirely too long at the five and LIU was taking advantage of it by having Troy Joseph or Gilbert Parga cutting to the tin, taking contact, and finishing with layups. Jason Brickman had seven assists in the first half, making passes I didn't even know were there. 

The second half didn't start off much better. After not taking a shot in the first half Karvel Anderson started off the half with an offensive foul. Then Lucky missed a three. Then Karvel pulled up from the elbow in a triple team. Then Lucky committed a turnover and fouled. Luckily, the defense was good and RMU kept hanging around. 

Karvel Anderson might have been the reason RMU won but it wouldn't have happened without David Appolon, who had five offensive rebounds in the second half. App is a straight up winner. Every good basketball team has a David Appolon. He brings energy, rebounds, and is a monster defensively.

RMU found themselves down 5-10 points for most of the second half before Karvel Anderson went STUPID RIDICULOUS. He hit a three at the 6:43 mark. Then again at 4:30. Then again at 4:06. Then he spun off a defender and went up and under high off the glass in traffic. Then, for good measure, he hit two step back left side jumpers and a corner three to win the game by nine. Karvel had 26 points in the second half and nine the last 1:10. That might look impressive but believe me it was 1000000x more impressive in person.

Analysis:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-We watched greatness tonight, simple as that. Wanna know who put their stamp on NEC player of the year? Number 15 of the red, white, and blue. Signed, sealed, and delivered. Legendary performance.

-Does Karvel smile? Is he even human? When you think about it, have you ever seen Karvel and Batman at the same place? I'm not saying Karvel is Batman, I'm just also saying lets not rule it out. 

-Fun atmosphere late in the game. I was on call on RMU radio and had to scream to hear myself. It was fun. Unrelated: I think I have strep throat and my throat is really hurting me. 

-Career high in points (13) and rebounds (9) for David Appolon. 

-RMU was outrebounded 18-9 in the first half but finished the game by holding a 34-30 advantage. Appolon, Lucky, and Aaron Tate had 9, 8, and 7 boards respectively. Tate continues to impress me on the defensive end. There are a few times where he's just too god damn strong for offensive players in the low post.

-Coach Toole gave Tate a high five that was so hard I think he might have broke his hand.

-RMU is now 1-0 on Andy Toole bobblehead nights. 

-RMU clinched their ninth consecutive winning season and have also clinched a share of the NEC regular season title. 

I might be able to add more tomorrow when I calm down. Until then, GO COLONIALS 

--Chris Cappella

--@C_Cappella

Not much to add to that. I've simply ran out of words to describe the greatness of Karvel Anderson.

Sure, as an alum and fan of the team, I want Robert Morris to make the NCAA tournament, but not far behind that reason, the college basketball fan in me wants to see a guy like Karvel take on a Duke, or a Syracuse, or Arizona on the biggest stage. He deserves that opportunity, and it would be great entertainment.

One more thing on Vel. If he doesn't get the league MVP, they should stop the award all together. Tonights performance locks it up.

David Appolon is the reason RMU even had a remote chance in this one. Great game App, keep up the good work.

Bryant lost to FDU tonight, so only Wagner can catch RMU in the NEC, and they can only tie them. Any RMU win or Wagner loss seems up home court for RMU in the NEC tournament. Also, if they finished tied, RMU could still win the league via a tiebreaker.

Hawk, get well soon. I know Andy will want to win Saturday against St Francis, and they will need Hawk to do that, but if he isn't good to go, Robert Morris should rest him. I would rather have him 100 percent down the line.

As big as tonight's win was, I really hope Hawk is okay. Winning with 8 is doable. Winning with 7, none above 6-5, is a tall task. #RMU

— Lee Kunkel (@kunkel5) February 21, 2014

All-in-all, AMAZING win. Simply AMAZING comeback. Karvel you're amazing.

Pack the Chuck Saturday on senior night. Ant Myers Pare and #15 deserve it.