Heading into Robert Morris' game Thursday night, Colonials coach Andy Toole said he still was trying to instill in his team the importance of details and intensity on defense.

For one night, at least, message received.

The Colonials took down league-leading Long Island, 75-66, at the Sewall Center, exacting some measure of revenge for the Blackbirds' 85-82 overtime win last year in the Northeast Conference tournament championship game.

As usual, Velton Jones led the Colonials (16-6, 7-2 NEC) with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

More important, though, was Robert Morris' shutdown effort against Long Island's league-leading offense. The Blackbirds (14-7, 8-1 NEC) entered the game averaging 79.2 points per game, but had no answer to Toole's effective mix of zone and man-to-man defenses.

"I thought we were sharp on defense," Toole said. "We haven't really been sharp defensively in a while."

The Blackbirds never seemed to get comfortable offensively, making just 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range. Michael Culpo, a 38.3 percent 3-point shooter this season, went 0 for 7 from beyond the arc.

Robert Morris, meanwhile, slowed the pace on offense, patiently finding open shots, but also taking advantage of fastbreaks when they could.

"We did a good job of controlling the tempo and playing the game at our speed as opposed to their speed," Toole said.

Playing in front of their biggest home crowd this season, the Colonials came out noticeably fired up. Jones started things with a 3-pointer on Robert Morris' first possession. The Blackbirds answered with a 3-point play by Jamal Olasewere, but the Colonials ripped off an 8-0 run to take an 11-3 lead at the first media timeout.

"It was a little different," Long Island coach Jim Ferry said. "We've been starting like that, we've been jumping people."

Long Island chipped away and closed to within three a few times, but never got closer.