RMU Men’s Basketball Faces UNF In NCAA First Four Matchup
By Larry Snyder
The Robert Morris University men’s basketball team will open the 2015 NCAA Tournament as part of the First Four on Wednesday, March 18 at 6:40 p.m. against the University of North Florida. The game is set to tip at the University of Dayton Arena in Ohio.
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The Selection Committee placed the Colonials (19-14) and Ospreys (23-11) in the South Region. The winner of Wednesday’s contest will take on the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils (29-4) on Friday, March 20 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.
This season under head coach Andrew Toole, 34. RMU claimed its third Northeast Conference Tournament championship in the last seven years with a 66-63 victory Tuesday, March 10 against St. Francis Brooklyn. RMU went 12-6 in the NEC during the regular season and finished second in the conference.
Toole is in his fifth season at the helm of the Colonials. This Wednesday’s matchup will be the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance under him. Robert Morris appeared in the tournament in 1982, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1992, 2009 and 2010.
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“Seeing your name pop up on the bracket is one of the best feelings in sports,” Toole said on rmucolonials.com. “I know our guys were excited to see it. We’ve got a tough assignment ahead of us in North Florida, and we’ll look forward to preparing the next few days to get ready for Wednesday.”
It is the Ospreys first appearance at the Big Dance after earning an automatic berth with a 63-57 victory over the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartans in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.
Matthew Driscoll, 50, is in his sixth season as the head coach of UNF. The Bellevue, Penna. native coached at both Northgate High School and La Roche College over his career. In his six seasons at North Florida, Driscoll has 54 victories in the ASC and 96 wins overall.
Colonials Clipboard: RMU is led by junior Rodney Pryor. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound guard is averaging 15.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and was named the 2015 NEC Tournament MVP.
Senior forward Lucky Jones contributed 14.3 points and a team-high six rebounds this season. In 33 games, freshman guard Marcquise Reed put up 14.8 points per contest and tied a team rookie record for double-figure scoring games with 24.
Sophomore guard Kavon Stewart was second on the team with 54 steals to Reed’s 62 while freshman forward Dlijah Minnie led the team with 35 blocked shots.
Ospreys Log: Sophomore Dallas Moore led the attack averaging 15.9 points per game. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard led in distributing the ball with 123 assists. Junior forward Beau Beech was next on the score sheet with 12.5 points per contest and second in rebounds with 193.
Sophomore forward Chris Davenport chipped in 11.5 points per game and was the rebound leader with 215. Senior guard Jalen Nesbitt was second on the squad in assists with 115, first in steals with 57, and contributed 10.8 points per contest.
Odds: Robert Morris +2.5 According to both OddsMaker Online Sportsbook and PinnacleSports.com.