By Paul Gotham
To understand the contributions Ronald Roberts Jr. makes to the St. Joseph’s Hawks attack one needs to look no further than a recent loss to then No. 19 UMass Minutemen.
With Roberts on the bench suffering from back spasms, the Hawks let a nine-point second-half lead slip away and fell on the road 66-62.
St. Joseph’s followed three nights later with an 84-80 win at George Mason. A game in which Roberts sat out, and the Hawks struggled to find continuity against the Patriots who have yet to win an Atlantic 10 game.
Surrounded by the likes of Halil Kanecevic and Langston Galloway, Roberts blends in with the surroundings, one of five Hawks averaging double figures. Kanecevic, a 6-9 forward, leads the Hawks in assists (4.4) and rebounds (8.7). Galloway recently set the school mark for 3-pointers.
Roberts leads in wear and tear.
The senior forward does a bulk of his work in the paint leading SJU in field goal percentage at 56.2 (100 of 178).
“Ron is our fifth guy as far as ballhandling,” St. Joseph’s Head Coach Phil Martelli said during the weekly A-10 Coaches tele-conference. “The other guys all have the ball. They can all make a play. He has worked very hard out of the low post. Every basket that he gets is because of really work ethic more than any other thing.”
At 6-8, Roberts averages 14 points and seven rebounds a game usually going head-to-head against bigger inside men.
“Once he gets it in there,” Martelli explained. “His explosion minimizes the other guy’s size.”
Roberts earned Old Spice Classic All-Tournament team honors averaging 20 points during three games in late November and early December. At the HP Field House in Orlando, Florida the senior from Bayonne, New Jersey notched a double-double (21 points/10 rebounds) against Washington State and followed with 19 versus Siena and 21 against LSU – a game in which he topped the 1,000 career points.
“Ron was able to move freely, everyone saw him in Orlando. Since we came back from Orlando, it’s gotten a little bit more difficult. People are crowding the floor. We got to make shots to give him the opportunity to really operate in the low post.”
Roberts is second only to Ahmad Nivins (62.7) in St. Joseph’s career field-goal percentage.
The Hawks (15-6/5-2) face a pivotal week as they host first-place No.15/13 St. Louis (20-2/7-0) on Wednesday before the VCU Rams (18-4/6-1) visit Hagan Arena, Saturday night.
SLU’s Jim Crews needs no introduction to Roberts.
“I’ve always been a big Roberts fan,” the Billiken head coach said. “He’s just one of those kids who love to compete. He gets after it. He’s physically gifted.”
The Hawks and Bills tip off at 7 pm.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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