Men’s basketball heads to CollegeInsider.com Tournament

Avin Patel

MOON TOWNSHIP — Matty McConnell sets up against Saint Francis Brooklyn on February 23, 2019 (Avin Patel/RMU Sentry Media).

Jonathan Hanna, Contributor

MOON TOWNSHIP — After a hard-fought regular season and playoffs, the Robert Morris men’s basketball team (16-15) has accepted an invite to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). This will be the second time the team has participated in the CIT, the other being in 2012, where the Colonials advanced to the semi-finals, losing 67-61 to Fairfield. It is also the eighth post-season tournament for the team in 12 years.

Per RMU Athletics, head coach Andrew Toole said, “As a coaching staff we felt it was an exciting opportunity for our student-athletes to take part in a postseason tournament. It gives our seniors another chance to put on the uniform, and I think it will be a big boost to the younger student-athletes in our program. We had a great experience when we played in the CIT in 2012, and we’re excited about getting another opportunity to compete.”

Coming into the tournament, the Colonials are led by a pair of seniors, Matty McConnell and Josh Williams. Williams, a guard from Akron, Ohio is averaging 13.9 points per contest, and was named to the 2019 All-Northeast Conference Third Team; where as McConnell is the active leader in points (1,119), rebounds (510), assists (301) and steals (234), and is averaging 10.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season. McConnell was also named to the 2019 NEC All-Tournament Team, leading the NEC in steals per game with 1.79 during the tournament.

It has yet to be determined who the Colonials will face in the tournament, but it will be announced later this week. In last year’s CIT tournament, Northern Colorado defeated the University of Illinois at Chicago 76-71 for their first CIT championship.