Neumann University Hoops Hitting Its Stride Down The Stretch

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Division III Neumann University Knights are playing some really good basketball these days.

The Knights are 16-6 on the season and their 12-3 mark in the Colonial States Athletic Conference has them in second place, two games behind front-runner Gwynedd Mercy University, and a game ahead of third-place Cabrini College.

Neumann is also red hot. The Knights have won eight straight games.

"We knew we were talented," Neumann head coach Jim Rullo tells KYW Newsradio. "And from a coaching perspective, I think you sometimes wonder about 'the buy in,' but I think these guys, to their credit, they bought into the team concept. And I'd like to think that the first two years that we've taken over the program and the success that we've had kind of validated that, kind of fostered that sense of team, which has been a real great pleasure to experience."

Listen to the entire interview with Neumann head coach Jim Rullo:

That success Rullo speaks of includes a Colonial States Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance last season.

Rullo says defense is a big key to Neumann's success. They are holding opponents to 40.5% shooting from the floor this season. But this is also a very talented team at the other end of the floor.

"They share the basketball very well and that's indicted by five guys averaging double figures for us," Rullo says.

Junior guard DeShawn Lohman leads those five in double figures, averaging 17.6 points per game (A sixth Knight, Kevin Green, averages just under double figures, scoring 9.7 points a game). Junior forward James Butler is right behind Lohman with a scoring average of 17.1. Another junior forward, Darian Barnes, is third on the team in scoring at 13.6 a game, and he also paces the squad in rebounding, pulling down 11.8 a night. Barnes also had one of the most impressive single-game performances of the season earlier this month on February 1st. In a 93-71 win over Keystone, Barnes put together a triple-double, scoring 16 points, pulling down 14 rebounds and blocking 10 shots.

The Knights have three regular season games remaining, starting with a Saturday visit to Keystone. Rullo says his surging team can still improve even more as they move closer to the conference tournament.

"As scary as it may sound, I think our defense can get better," Rullo says. "I think the one area that we, and it's one of those things where you have to give a little bit to get a little bit, I think the one area that we can better at is turning the ball over. We want to play quicker after we get stops, but at the same time, I think we have to have that ability to make better decisions because I think we turn the ball over just a little too much. I think that in games where you're playing Cabrini and when you're playing Gwynedd Mercy, that they can prove to be vital pieces to those games where you want to take care of the basketball."

Saturday's game against Keystone will get underway at 1:00pm.