Robert Morris, St. Francis split first two games; No. 3 all that matters
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The sweat was real. The passion was clear.
The victories were sweet. The defeats decisive and sour.
There were plenty of displays of good basketball by both teams and other times when no one could find the net for several minutes.
All those things described how Robert Morris (19-14) and Saint Francis (Pa.) (22-9) confronted each other last month in two games in a span of 12 days.
And at 7 p.m. Tuesday — when an ESPN2 engineer flips a switch to send out the game to a national audience and the referee throws up the ball at center court at Robert Morris’ UPMC Events Center — all of the above barely will be a memory.
St. Francis won in Loretto, 86-71, on Feb. 18, and Robert Morris prevailed in the rematch in Moon, 78-68, on Feb. 29. Those games were important in the moment, but the third game is all that matters now.
It is the championship of the Northeast Conference Tournament, and the winner will receive a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Robert Morris hasn’t had one of those since 2015. St. Francis’ only trip to college basketball’s grandest stage came in 1991.
A sellout crowd is expected, only the second for a basketball game at Robert Morris’ new facility since it opened 10 months ago.
“We’re excited to have a chance to hold up a trophy,” Robert Morris junior guard Jon Williams said.
“We’ve been preparing for this all season long,” said junior forward A.J. Bramah, who leads the Colonials in rebounds (8.2 per game) and is second in scoring (13.4). “It’s going to be a bar fight.”
The previous games between the only NEC teams in Pennsylvania marked good and bad milestones for Robert Morris.
In Loretto, St. Francis’ Isaiah Blackmon, the NEC Player of the Year, scored 30 points on 12-of-18 shooting (6 of 11 from beyond the 3-point arc).
Robert Morris played 4 minutes, 10 seconds without scoring early in the game and couldn’t recover from a 41-31 halftime deficit. St. Francis’ total was the most points allowed by the Colonials in the first half this season.
In the rematch, with the No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament on the line, it was Robert Morris’ turn to build a 10-point halftime lead.
St. Francis had a 5:25 spell without a field goal in the second half and fell behind by 17. Robert Morris’ trio of senior Josh Williams (Jon’s brother), Bramah and sophomore Dante Treacy contributed 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, respectively.
What changed?
“Emotion,” Jon Williams said. “Coming down that home stretch, you have to find something within the group and find a different identity if that one’s not working.
“We found our identity. We found ourselves. We just gave what the moment required.”
The victory ended the Colonials’ 1-3 skid that followed an 11-2 stretch to open the NEC schedule.
“I don’t think we were as sharp as we needed to be,” said Robert Morris coach Andy Toole of his team’s brief slump. “We didn’t have that energy and the passion you need to go out and compete late in the season.
“I thought we really found a little of that energy again, a little of that emotion, and we got back to practice where we were able to remind guys how important each and every detail is.”