MOON TOWNSHIP, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Reborn this season with its best start in five years when COVID stopped an NCAA Tournament appearance, Robert Morris men's basketball won its 17th game Wednesday night beating Detroit Mercy 71-56.
"We were able to wear them down with some defense urgency, some energy," said Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole. "Created some turnovers that allowed us to get some easy buckets and eventually take control of the game."
That's the way Toole wants to play, when RMU was having success in the NEC, they played that way. Now they are rolling in the Horizon League with an entirely new team, with the exception of Alvaro Folgueiras, from the 10-win unit from last year.
Toole said when they assembled the group during the summer, he immediately saw competitiveness. He saw individuals battling each other and as they did, they grew closer to each other. Now through the triumphs and adversity of a season, they are starting to believe in their teammates and the coaches. The results are a 17-8 record and fourth place in the Horizon League at 9-5, 17-8 overall.
"There is a great level of pride in there, they want to win games," Toole said. "They are engaged. The times when we had to have difficult conversations, there is more acceptance of that. There is more player-to-player communication, that's a positive."
Junior forward Amarion Dickerson is a Cleveland native, but comes by way of Minera Area College, a JUCO in Missouri. He said the entire team holds each other accountable from the biggest star to the last player on the bench. Dickerson said while they've got more to learn and room to grow, they all want it.
He credits that to his head coach, now in his 15th season in Moon Township.
"Coach Toole and his staff really hold all the players accountable on the team," Dickerson said. "Before I committed he just let me know that we would love to have you with the group, but I'm not going to be one of those coaches that are just going to pat your back all the time. There are going to be times when I am going to get on your back and you're not going to like it. That sealed the deal."
"That's how players are able to reach their highest potential when you get coached like that."
Dickerson is second in all of Division 1 basketball with 67 blocks this season. He had a school-record eight on Wednesday, breaking his own school record of seven in November.
"Just playing knowing that the staff and the guys got confidence in me to make those types of plays," Dickerson said. "I don't just to this for myself, I do this obviously for my team, staff. I got a lot I'm playing for, trying to get to March Madness."
So is everyone in the program. They were robbed by a pandemic from dancing five years ago and now through togetherness they are putting themselves in position for another 'Mo Madness in March.
