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It was supposedly only a matter of time before things came together for the junior transfer - thusfar this season, he had been up and down, following a strong performance against Xavier (17 points on 7-of-13 shooting) by essentially disappearing in the team's next three games.
In 52 minutes against Bowling Green, Cleveland State, and Savannah State, Anderson matched his Xavier showing, though fortunately for him he didn't necessarily need to for the Colonials to be successful. Tonight, he showed up with avengeance, and Robert Morris was the beneficiary as they ran out to an early lead and the Ohio Bobcats never fully recovered on the way to an 84-76 loss.
Think about it this way: Karvel Anderson attempted ten shots all game - eight of them from behind the arc, and made every single one of them. Put it another way - Anderson attempted one shot inthe last 17 minutes of play, and finished the game with 28 points. At one point in the first half, Karvel went on a 12-0 run by himself.
There are a number of things at play here: after what I've seen of Anderson (both against Fordham and here against Ohio) I am confident in saying that this performance is not the true Karvel Anderson. The games against Xavier and Fordham where he never quite consistently found his shot (and where, against Xavier, he did nothing but shoot because of it) are probably a more accurate indication of his abilities.
That said, tonight revealed a new edge to Anderson - let him get hot from outside if you dare. I don't know that he's quite yet some Ray Allen - level assassin from long range, but the Colonials' future opponents most certainly are going to need to work him into their game planning from now on. I also doubt that Anderson's first start tonight will be his last.
You can't fault the Bobcats, either. They made 13 three-pointers of their own, and DJ Cooper led the team with 19 but was one of four players to score in double digits. They held the Colonials not named Karvel to 40% shooting from the field and 4-of-10 shooting from behind the arc (though Russell Johnson only made one basket but still finished with 14 points).
This is the kind of performance Robert Morris has been and always will be capable of this season, we shall see if they can keep it up going forward.