By PAUL GOTHAM
DAYTON, OH — Trailing by double digits early in the second half, Robert Morris needed to find good fortune. The Colonials didn’t have far to look.
Lucky Jones was one of four Colonials in double figures as Robert Morris defeated the University of North Florida Ospreys, 80-77 in First Four action played at the University of Dayton Arena, Wednesday night.
Jones scored 21 and was part of defensive effort which created 19 turnovers.
Trailing by 13 soon after halftime, Jones and Marcquise Reed sparked an 11-0 run to make it a one-possession game.
“I just felt the game swing into our hands,” Jones said of the run. “The basketball game is full of runs, and I think we just took our time, felt them getting on their heels.”
After finding the bottom of the net just twice in the first half, Reed scored nine straight Robert Morris points cutting the deficit to one.
“They just kept talking to me throughout the game, motivating me saying we need you to score, so we can win this game,” Reed said of his teammates. “That’s exactly what I did.”
The Colonials held North Florida without a make in six attempts and forced five turnovers during the stretch.
“We thought if we could heat them up a little bit and turn them over, that we could compensate for some of the threes they might make,” Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole said. “We had to try and change the tempo of the game, and I thought we did. I thought we did a good job of forcing them off the 3-point line.”
“I probably should have done a better job, maybe called a couple timeouts, maybe run a couple special plays or special whatever to try to get us back in the flow,” North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll said. “I’m not sure how our looks were.”
The Osprey rallied to retake the lead.
Jalen Nesbitt used an upfake in the post to create a lane for two. Beech knocked down a jumper just above the free throw line. Then the junior guard followed with one of his six three-pointers on the night. Nesbitt finished a drive in the lane. Dallas Moore went end-to-end for two, and Demarcus Daniels hit a jump hook in the lane for a 59-51 UNF lead with 9:49 remaining.
“We got it back up to eight and kind of weathered the storm so to speak and again we went on another drought, which is unlike us,” Driscoll said. “Giving up 52 points in a half is unlike us.”
Reed sparked a decisive 7-0 run late in the second half. The freshman guard went the length of the floor and finished with a scoop shot. Jones scored on a tap in. Rodney Pryor hit a catch-and-shoot jumper from the wing.
After switching to man-to-man and getting a shot clock violation, Kavon Stewart converted on of two free throws for a 73-66 lead with 2:04 to go.
The teams traded free throws for the final minute of play.
Beau Beech sparked a 19-4 North Florida first-half run where the Ospreys hit nine of ten shots.
Trailing by seven, Beech his third three-pointer of the first half to cut into the deficit. On the next possession, the 6-8 guard used an upfake and dribble to get into the lane for a pull-up jumper. Chris Davenport knotted the game at 25 with a jumper off the window. Jalen Nesbitt and Trent Mackey followed with back-to-back treys. When Demarcus Daniels took a Dallas Moore feed for a dunk the Osprey had their largest lead of the half at 33-25.
As a team, Robert Morris finished the first half hitting just one of their nine shots.
The win was the second NCAA Tournament win in Robert Morris school history. The first coming, ironically enough, in Dayton in 1983 when the Colonials beat Georgia Southern, 64-54.
The Colonials improved to 29-39 under Toole versus teams with winning records.
Reed and Pryor scored in double figures for the 25th time this season.
The 20-point effort was the 13th in Jones’s career.
The double-digit comeback was the fourth for Robert Morris this season.
Beech’s six three-pointers was the second-most surrendered by Robert Morris this season. His nine field goals is a career high. The 20-point effort was his fifth this season.
The loss snapped the Atlantic Sun’s streak of wins in the past two NCAA Tournaments. Florida Gulf Coast beat San Diego State and Georgetown in in 2013. Mercer defeated Duke last season.
The loss also snapped North Florida’s eight-game winning streak. The Ospreys were one of three teams (including Buffalo and UC Irvine) appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Robert Morris moves on to play No. 1-seed Duke.
Leave a Reply