It turns out the men of Robert Morris aren’t finished playing basketball.
School officials announced Thursday that the team has accepted an invitation to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT). The Colonials (17-16) lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, 66-62, last Saturday in a Northeast Conference semifinal game. Fairleigh Dickinson went on to earn an NCAA Tournament bid by beating St. Francis, 85-76, in the championship game.
“As a coaching staff, we felt it was an exciting opportunity for our student-athletes to take part in a postseason tournament,” coach Andy Toole said in a statement. “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.”
Robert Morris leads the NEC in scoring defense (67.8).
The berth will be Robert Morris’ second in the CIT and eighth postseason appearance in the past 12 years, including three to the NCAA (2009, 2010 and 2015) and three to the NIT (2008, 2013 and 2014). Their opponent will be announced later this week.
In the 2012 CIT, Robert Morris advanced to the quarterfinals by winning two games on the road — at Indiana State, 67-60, and Toledo, 69-51. They lost their next game, 67-61, to Fairfield.
The game gives seniors Josh Williams and Matty McConnell an opportunity to play at least one more game in college.
Williams is averaging 13.9 points per game and leads the NEC with an average of 2.91 3-pointers.
McConnell averages 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and has scored 1,119 career points. He leads the NEC in steals (1.79). He also needs three 3-pointers to join former guard Jeremy Chappell (2005-09) as the only Robert Morris players to accumulate career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists, 200 steals and 200 three-pointers.
