Robert Morris defeated conference foe Mount St. Mary's by a score of 69-61. RMU improved to 16-11 and 11-1 in conference while the Mount fell to 10-14 and 6-5 in the NEC.
It was another stout defensive performance for RMU, who held the Mount to about 15 points below their season average in scoring. It didn't start pretty for RMU, as they allowed points essentially every possession before the first media timeout. After that, the boys settled down, forced tough looks, and rebounded extremely well.
The offense was carried by Chuck Oliver, who had a career high 19 points on 7-8 shooting and 3-3 from beyond the arc. RMU didn't get much of anything in the first half from Lucky Jones or Karvel Anderson, which forced a role player to step up. Oliver was that man.
"They were going to deny Lucky and Karvel and basically not respect me so I had to make them pay for that," Oliver said.
RMU lead 31-26 at half.
The second half was really more of the same. RMU's point guards did an excellent job handling the press, Chuck Oliver kept cooking, and Karvel Anderson chipped in some late field goals to end it. The play of the game probably came with 2:54 remaining when Karvel Anderson beat the press and threw an alley-oop to Stephan Hawkins that brought down the house.
Odds and ends
-It's hard to overstate how crucial Chuck's performance was today. Personally, I didn't think this would be a good match-up for the Colonials. The Mount does a good job on Karvel Anderson (Rashad Whack should be first team all-defense, by the way) and I thought their style of play would wear down the Colonials.
So good for Chuck. On a day where someone needed to step up, his shot was on. And Chuck's more than just a three point shooter. The way he can put the ball on the floor and create for himself and his teammates is impressive.
-RMU has held their opponents to under 65 points four straight games. The effort on the defensive end against a team who can shoot anyone out of a zone was very good. When Mount did score, it usually came out of a corner three. They ran a set where a forward would get the ball in the low block, would kick back up top, and another guard would come across the baseline and sneak into the corner. Not many teams can emulate the amount of shooters Mount has (Toole said the scouting report had five "high priority" shooters, where most teams maybe have two) but it's something to watch if teams will try and spread out RMU on the defensive end.
-Loved the point guard play. Outside of a few late game turnovers, Anthony Myers-Pate did a god job of knowing when to speed it up and use his jump shot. Then there's Kavon Stewart, who's one sneaky mother$%*&^. I love watching him in the zone. I love watching him run the court and draw fouls. The kid is going to be unreal one day.
-In the words of Lee Kunkel, Aaron Tate was a brickhouse tonight. He grabbed six boards and was a force defensively. Hawkins had ten points on 5-7 shooting also.
-Good energy again from David Appolon. If he can develop some touch around the rim and a corner three shot he could turn into someone who averages seven points a game. He is really good using his left and always brings it defensively and on the glass.
Not much more to write home about. RMU had 40 points in the paint tonight, which I'm guessing is a season high. More to come tomorrow!
--Chris Cappella
--@C_Cappella
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