Under the Radar Game of the Day: Robert Morris at St. Francis-Brooklyn, 4:00 PM Eastern, necfrontrow.com
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David Griggs may be upset that one of the more prominent UTR games, such as the Evansville, Wichita State, Monmouth or Little Rock games he highlighted, is not the selection for today’s UTR Game of the Day. Our colleague Lee Delvecchio may be upset it isn’t the Philadelphia games of Dayton-La Salle followed by Princeton-Penn (which we will be attending this afternoon). However, today’s choice is instead the rematch of one of last season’s more exciting Championship Week finishes, as Robert Morris visits St. Francis-Brooklyn in an important early Northeast Conference contest.
The Robert Morris Colonials traveled to Brooklyn last March for the NEC title game and trailed SFBK by six points at halftime. However, they were able to overcome that deficit and pull out a 66-63 win that sent them to the Big Dance where they beat North Florida in the First Four before falling to Duke in the Round of 64. The Colonials’ comeback in the conference title game was led by Rodney Pryor, who scored 17 points in the game and was named NEC Tournament MVP. Pryor, now a senior, has been the team leader so far this season as well. He has scored in double-digits every game this season, breaking the 20 point mark more times than not. This includes a 21 point, 11 rebound effort last time out against LIU-Brooklyn, his fourth double-double of the season. Despite Pryor’e efforts, Robert Morris has struggles so far this season, sitting at just 3-13 overall and 1-2 in conference play. However, there is certainly enough time for the Colonials to turn things around in conference play, and a win on the rod this afternoon would go a long way towards doing just that.
St. Francis-Brooklyn fell by only three points in last year’s conference title game, coming ever-so-close to earning the school’s first ever NCAA tournament bid. Jalen Cannon and Brent Jones, two of the Terriers’ top players on that team, both graduated after last season. However, they do have Tyreek Jewell back this season. Jewell scored 19 points in the championship game loss last season. He has been one of the Terriers’ top player so far this year, including a 17 pint effort last time out in a win over St. Francis-PA. As with Robert Morris, St. Francis-Brooklyn has had a rough start to the 2015-16 season, sitting at only 5-11 overall and 1-2 in conference play. However, just as with the Colonials, there is plenty of time for this team to get the ship righted and try to return to the Northeast title game. A win at home today, in the rematch of last year’s title game, would be a great way to help things get moving in that direction.
I would have voted for Northeastern-William & Mary as the UTR Game of the Day (with an honorable mention to UTEP-UAB).