The Robert Morris Colonials begin their final road trip of the season tonight at Sacred Heart. The Colonials are coming off of a winnable home game versus St. Francis Brooklyn, but a few slip ups in the zone and a mini offensive cold-streak was all the Terriers needed to walk out of Moon Township with a W.
SFBK defeated Robert Morris 82-72, as Yunus Hopkinson and Tyreek Jewell lead the way for St. Francis. On senior night, Rodney Pryor finished with 14 points and five boards. Junior forward Billy Giles chipped in for the Colonials, scoring 13 points and grabbing three rebounds.
Freshman Isaiah Still played in his first game since being suspended for three games, as his absence certainly took a mini toll on him. Still was extremely rusty in the first half, but managed to pick up the pace to finish with 12 points.
Steven Whitley also continued his strong play for the Colonials. I tell you what, the combination of Still-McConnell-Whitley is going to be dangerous in a couple of seasons. People forget how young this team really is. They have three freshman who play some serious minutes.
Kavon Stewart, the junior point guard for the Colonials, was playing the game while feeling under the weather. Rodney Pryor said post game that Stewart was literally throwing up in the locker room before the game. Late in the second half, Stewart checked himself out of the game, ran to the trash can, threw up, and then checked himself back into the game. He showed a lot of heart and coach Toole noted that in his post game press conference. He won a lot of Colonials' fans hearts after playing through his sickness.
Stewart will have a tough task ahead of him tonight, however. Sacred Heart has arguably the league's best player in Cane Broome. Not only Kavon, but him and Matty McConnell will need to keep active at the top of the 2-3 zone. They can't let Broome penetrate and control the pace of the game. When Cane Broome has his way, the Pioneers typically have a pretty good chance to walk away with a win.
Quincy McKnight is a rising star in this conference and as a freshman, he's playing over 32 minutes a night, and while doing so, he's averaging 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. The Colonials also need to be cautious of Tevin Falzon, who is an above-average rebounder and a much improved scorer. Falzon is putting up 11 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Sacred Heart has four starters averaging double figures, as Jordan Allen also scores 10.6 points per game.
The Pioneers are currently tied for second in the NEC with Mount St. Mary's at 10-6, as they both trail Wagner by a single game. The Colonials are still in the eighth and final playoff spot, as they sit at 7-9. They, like every other team, wants to be clicking at the end of the season heading into playoff time. As we've seen firsthand, hot teams tend to give themselves a better chance to advance in the NEC tournament. Seeding is also a big unknown in the NEC right now, as there is still SO much to determine seeding wise.
I love the way Kavon Stewart is running this offense right now, as his leadership is starting to garner more attendtion. We all know Matty is a vocal leader as well, and his leadership skills, as noted many times, is unbelievable for a freshman. He doesn't let bad shooting performances affect the rest of his game, something that pros even struggle with. Rodney Pryor appears to be back and at full strength, which on any given night, a strong performance by Pryor can be enough to win a game. Billy Giles has quietly had himself a very strong season, but Falzon will be a tough test for him tonight. Tonight's matchup has a lot at steak; will it benefit the Colonials? I think they will play well, but Sacred Heart is playing some pretty good basketball right now. It should be a fun one!
