City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

Julian Phillips had quite a surprise to begin his college career. 

The Central Bucks West product and Neumann University freshman figured that, like most college newcomers, he was destined to initially come off the bench. Instead, just minutes before a preseason scrimmage against Manor College, the Central Bucks West product was told he was going to start. Though surprised, he quickly pivoted his frame of mind.

“I just got to take advantage of the opportunity,” he said. “I played big minutes in that one and I impacted the game a lot in that scrimmage, and that was when I really started to see I can impact the game and help us win.”

That’s the reality of the situation for Rullo, who needs Phillips and several other underclassmen to play well if the Knights are to keep up their success from last season. Senior captains Donte Dupriest, DJ Earl and Bryan Etienne will lead the way most games, but if they don’t get support, the momentum built up from that 20-win campaign and Atlantic East championship will be gone 

They got all of that Saturday in an 87-77 win over Penn State-Abington, Neumann’s third in a row, as the Knights continued to pick up some momentum early in the season. The win lifted the Neumann men over .500 at 4-3, giving them something to feel good about with the conference season a handful of games away. 

Dupriest, a 6-foot-4 forward out of Bartram, controlled the paint in a 34-point, 20-rebound double-double, setting a new career mark in scoring and coming one off his mark on the glass. Earl, a 6-0 guard from Appoquinimink (Del.), contributed 25 of his own as he carried the Neumann offense early in the second half. Ettienne, a 6-3 guard from Coral Glades (Fl.), contributed his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. 

That trio is leading the Knights in scoring — Dupriest at 18.4 ppg, Earl at 18.3 ppg and Etinne at 14.0 ppg — and rebounding, no surprises there. 

“It’s a good core, but at the same time they’re playing a lot of minutes,” Rullo said. “We need other people to help out.”

Getting the rest of the team to step up is their biggest current challenge.

“All of us being seniors, being part of that winning championship team last year, [we’re] just taking what we’ve learned and trying to apply it to the younger guys,” Earl told CoBL. As for last year’s success, which resulted in a 20-8 (9-3 Atlantic East) finish, he said they most learned about the importance of “the chemistry, togetherness, being able to go into hostile gyms, hostile environments and stay together through adversity. I feel as though that makes the best teams.”

So far, Phillips has stepped up to the call.

The muscular 6-3 wing, a First Team All-Suburban One Colonial Division pick his senior year, has been the team’s fourth-leading scorer at 8.1 ppg and is third on the team in rebounding (5.0/game), playing a ton of minutes (34.4/game) off the jump. His 10 points against Penn State-Abington included a couple 3-pointers, his fourth and fifth of the season.

“He has a physicality, he can step and stretch the floor out,” Rullo said. “Like to see a little bit more energy in the sense of he — knows the game, he understands the game, just communicating that and being a little more engaged, from that standpoint.”

“Him being a freshman and coming in and being able to play with the upperclassmen and fit in, that helps people like me and Dante be able to play our games,” Earl added. “You’ve got other players who can come in, be confident and be themselves, it alleviates pressure off of us to do what we do.”

Phillips called his teammates “a great group of guys,” which has helped him get used to not only a new level but a positional change as well.

“Biggest adjustment is definitely the pace,” he said, “it’s definitely faster, a lot faster than high school, and just playing out of position. I’ve played guard my whole life and I just moved to a forward, so that’s a big adjustment for me, but I’ve been able to adjust pretty quickly on it.”

The Knights also got quality minutes in Saturday’s win from point guard Emeer Coombs. The Neshaminy native spent last year redshirting at Holy Family, earning his first collegiate minutes in the season opener against DeSales. He played 19 that night but single digits in the next three, then didn’t see the court in Neumann’s last two games, wins against Goucher (Nov. 14) and Widener (Nov. 20). 

Rullo put Coombs in six minutes into the second half against PSU-Abington and he ended up playing the entire rest of the way, finishing with four points and one assist while — most importantly — not turning it over in 14 minutes of action. 

“Last couple games we didn’t really get many minutes and I thought tonight he came in and solidified some things in a key stretch where it was close and we were able to build a lead,” Rullo said. 

Despite the Nittany Lions falling to 0-7 on the season, Sean Westerlund’s group put up a good fight on the road. Senior guard JoJo Kelly went for 22 points in a game that featured nine ties and eight lead changes, the last of which came five minutes into the second half. 

Neumann was just too dominant on the boards, winning the rebound battle 53-28 with a 21-10 advantage on the offensive glass; they did that while shooting 46.2% from the floor (30-of-65) and 38.9% from the arc (7-of-18). 

Both Rullo and Earl talked about the importance of playing better defense to create easier offensive opportunities; the Knights only forced six Nittany Lion turnovers on Friday, which required them to rely on that rebounding and some impressive shot-making by Earl to carry the offense for large stretches.

"If we do get stops like we did the other night against Widener, we played a lot smarter, we shoot a high percentage and we apply pressure," Rullo said. "Some of our best offense is predicated upon how well we rebound and guard, because we get easier shots.”

Time is running short until the Atlantic East schedule begins. Neumann hosts four games — Muhlenberg (Nov. 25), PSU-Schuylkill (Dec. 1), PSU-Lehigh Valley (Dec. ) and Haverford College (Dec. 6) — before the winter break begins. When they come back, it’s conference competition only, beginning with a visit from Immaculata on Jan. 7. 

This is Neumann’s last year in the AEC, as the Knights’ programs will be moving to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) next fall. They want to end it on top.

“Coach puts us in position to succeed, it starts with how we prepare, and coming off a championship we know everybody’s giving us their best,” Earl said, “so [we’re] just staying ready for those moments, playing together, making sure we get the win.”