Sunday’s loss to Robert Morris has left me devastated. No storybook season, no redemption for last season, and most importantly, no March Madness.

Just like anyone else at Quinnipiac, I thought this was the year for us. Even though we didn’t dominate the regular season like last year, it seemed like once the playoffs came around we would pull together and take care of business. However, for the third straight year Robert Morris killed that dream.

I had a bad feeling about the game right from when our cheerleaders were waving those blue and somewhat gold tarps around, while Robert Morris had girls backflipping across the gym like a damn circus.

Then it was like watching a rerun of last year’s game. Our shot selection was poor in the beginning, we never really put together a big scoring run in the second half, and worst of all, we didn’t get the stop at the end.

The ball just didn’t bounce our way at the end. We got really unlucky with a ball going out of bounds, giving Robert Morris basically the last shot. Then, to lose on a runner that seemed to stay in the air forever was just awful. When I think about it, that shot can’t be that high percentage of a take, can it? The shot came from an angle and he didn’t even use the glass.

Whatever, I’m still proud of this team, and even if we didn’t make the NCAA tournament this season, we are now competing for it on a consistent basis, and that is fantastic.

What sucks the most about this loss is Justin Rutty. I feel horrible for the kid. I’m not sure anyone on the planet loves Quinnipiac as much as he does, Lahey included. Even Charlie Sheen would recognize he is winning with his college experience. If there was anyone who deserved a trip to March Madness it was him.

We still have a good team moving forward, whether it be to the NIT, or next season in general. James Johnson will be even better next year, we are returning just about everybody, and I think we saw a superstar in the making Sunday in Dave Johnson. Johnson almost single-handedly willed us past Robert Morris. Having two Johnsons in the backcourt next year is going to be a problem for the rest of the NEC.