RMU eyes NEC tournament’s top seed
Colonials must beat Saint Francis to earn that prize
You hear coaches say some variation of it all the time.
In their eternal quest to keep their teams focused on the task at hand, coaches repeat the idea that each game is as important as any other. That whatever the next game is, it should be treated like a championship.
That’s likely necessary in most situations to avoid letdowns.
Ahead of Robert Morris’ game Saturday against Saint Francis (20-8 overall, 13-4 Northeast Conference), though, the winner of which will earn home-court advantage throughout the NEC tournament, coach Andy Toole doesn’t hesitate to put this game on a bit of a pedestal.
“I think they’ve got to feel it a little bit. If they don’t feel it, we should get their pulses checked,” Toole said Wednesday. “I think anybody, at the start of the year, would say, ‘OK, you’re going to have a game at home for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, would you take it?’ To a man, I think everybody would raise their hand, right? That’s what we have in front of us. To me, that’s what you do all this for.
“And if you can’t handle it, well then you’re not going to be able to win it. If you can’t handle that conversation, and you can’t handle that kind of emotion, and you can’t handle some of those feelings, then you’re not going to be able to go out and perform the way that you need to.”
The emphasis for how well the Colonials (16-14, 12-5) will have to play Saturday is increased given how the game went the first time these teams played.
In that game, a little less than two weeks ago in Loretto, Pa., the Red Flash jumped on Robert Morris and controlled the entire game. At one point in the second half, Saint Francis led by 24 points in an eventual 86-71 victory.
Additionally, it stands to reason that the Red Flash understand the importance of this game, too, giving the Colonials all the more reason to be laser focused by the time tipoff comes around Saturday.
“You can’t just not talk about it and hope when the ball goes up, they go, ‘Oh, this is what we do,’ ” Toole said. “So I think getting that stuff out there, communicating it, having guys understand that it’s hard, having guys understand that they’d better be even more ready than the last game, because Saint Francis is going to come out and be more aggressive than they were last game, are all the stuff that we’re trying to make sure that these guys understand as we prepare.”
As if the stakes of the game itself weren’t enough, Saturday stands to be an emotional day for Robert Morris, anyway.
With it being the Colonials’ final home game of the regular season, they will honor their senior class, which consists of guards Josh Williams and Sayveon McEwen, as well as forward Yannis Mendy.
Plus, the geographical proximity of the two teams makes the matchup a natural rivalry.
Suffice to say, there’s a lot on the line Saturday for Robert Morris. Given those circumstances, a win would go a long way in building the Colonials’ momentum heading into postseason play.
“If you look throughout the history of the two teams, it’s kind of a rivalry, so that heightens it, as well,” Williams said Wednesday. “But you’re always trying to get the No. 1 seed. So that’s really the biggest thing. Whether it’s rivalry or not, you want that No. 1 seed. You want that home-court advantage, so that heightens everything.
“So it’s a lot of things that goes into the game this week.”