Robert Morris coach Mike Rice was frustrated with his team's lack of intensity in the Colonials' Northeast Conference tournament quarterfinal win against Central Connecticut State Thursday.

He hopes that same out-of-it team does not show up today when the second-seeded Colonials play host to third-seeded Mount St. Mary's in the semifinals at 7 p.m. at the Sewall Center. After all, the Mountaineers denied Robert Morris' bid for an outright NEC title last week in Emmitsburg, Md.

"They said some things to us in the hallway and they celebrated like it was a big game for them," Rice said. "So you would think it's a big game. It's Mount-Robert Morris. It seems like we meet every year in the playoffs."

This is the fifth consecutive postseason meeting between the two schools, and the teams are tied, 2-2, in the past four postseason meetings.

"It's like a roach in the house," said senior forward Josiah Whitehead. "They're not going to go away. They're not going to go away. They're always there and they're always going to keep on coming back. It's a rivalry."

The two teams split their season series this year. Robert Morris won the NEC season opener, 63-57, as the Mountaineers struggled to start the conference season. Mount St. Mary's started the NEC season 2-6, but the Mountaineers have won 12 consecutive games, including a 63-61 senior night win against the Colonials.

"They took our [regular-season] championship away from us," said senior guard Mezie Nwigwe. "So we've been looking forward to playing them again."

The Colonials struggled with turnovers in that regular-season finale, coughing up the ball 18 times. Robert Morris turned over the ball twice in its final three possessions, which ended up turning the game in the Mountaineers' favor.

Freshman guard Karon Abraham said Robert Morris needs to "value the ball" if it wants to advance to the NEC title game.

"When we get shots off, we score," he said. "We have no problem scoring when we get a shot up.

"When we get turnovers, that gives them chances to score."

The Mountaineers were the conference coaches' pick to win the conference. They won the NEC postseason tournament two years ago. The Colonials are defending champions.

The winner will play the winner of today's game between top-seeded Quinnipiac and fourth-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson. The NEC title game will take place Wednesday night on the home court of the highest remaining seed.

Two of the past three games between the teams had conference-title implications and were decided by two points.

In addition to the Colonials' road loss last week, Robert Morris beat visiting Mount St. Mary's, 48-46, in the NEC tournament championship game last season.

"It's them," Nwigwe said. "It's like playing against your big brother or something.

"You're going to want to go hard and you want to prove them wrong every time because, if you don't, they're going to want to talk trash and they're going to let you know. So you want to go hard every time you play them, no matter what."

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