RMU Men’s Basketball: Colonials Face St. John’s In First Round Of NIT
By Larry Snyder
First round competition for the National Invitation Tournament will pit the Robert Morris University men’s basketball team against St. John’s University. This first-ever meeting of the two programs will take place Tuesday at Carnesecca Arena in New York.
The Colonials (21-13, 14-2 NEC) are making their second consecutive appearance in the NIT and their sixth postseason appearance in the last seven years.
Under fourth-year head coach Andrew Toole, the Colonials are 1-2 in the NIT, with their one victory being a 59-57 win over Kentucky last March at the Charles L. Sewall Center in Moon Township. RMU was defeated by Providence 77-68 in the second round last year.
Photo: RMU Athletics
Robert Morris senior guard Karvel Anderson leads the team in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game. The native of Elkhart, Ind., has established single-season program records in 2013-14 for points with 649, 3-pointers with 106 and 20-point games with 17. The 2014 NEC Player of the Year has scored 1,062 points in two season with the Colonials.
Junior forward Lucky Jones averaged 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest for RMU. The native of Newark, N.J., ranks 16th all-time in program history in career points with 1,150 and is sixth in career rebounds with 644.
The Red Storm (20-12, 10-8 Big East) will be making their third postseason appearance in the last four seasons. They won the NIT Championship in 1943, 1944, 1959, 1965, 1989 and 2003, and this appearance in the nation’s oldest post-season tournament will set a new national record at 29.
St. John’s has been playing its best basketball of late, as the Red Storm is a combined 8-3 in February and March to post its second 20-win season under third-year head coach Steve Lavin.
Junior guard D’Angelo Harrison has been putting up 17.7 points per game while sophomore forward JaKarr Sampson has averaged 12.9 ppg and 6.2 rebounds for St. John’s. Freshman guard Rysheed Jordan is averaging 9.7 points and leads the squad in assists this season with 88.
The match-up will be televised nationally live on ESPNU with Dave Pasch and Tim Welsh on the call. The contest will also be on local radio with Chris Shovlin and Jim Elias calling the action 970 ESPN AM.