The Colonials had a 10-point lead midway through the second half and still led, 64-56, after a three-point play with 2:40 to go.
They were a bucket or a couple of free throws away from closing out their seventh-straight win — but they never scored again.
The Raiders ripped off 10 points in a row, forcing back-to-back turnovers with their 1-2-2 press and winning on Andrew Welage’s short jumper in the lane with 11 seconds to go.
The Colonials had a chance to go up by three with 27 seconds left but boinked a 1-and-1. They also had the outcome in their hands after Welage scored, but the Raiders came up with a defensive stop.
“I felt like our guys were urgent and desperate and confident and flew around, and sometimes that momentum shifts at just the right time. We all know it. We’ve seen it. And all of a sudden, they have that look of, ‘Oh, no,’” Sargent said.
“It can really spiral. In a lot of ways as a coach, you see it, but then it’s kind of out of your hands in a lot of ways at that point. Your guys just have to make a play.”
The Raiders, who are 12-12 overall and seventh in the Horizon League at 6-7, know what it’s like to let winnable games get away.
They’ve lost five times this season after building double-digit leads.
They led by 18 in the first half at Youngstown State and by 11 with seven minutes to go. They fell, 88-86.
They had a 10-point first-half edge on Purdue Fort Wayne at home but were dealt a 120-113 double-overtime setback. In the first OT, they had a 105-101 edge with 13 seconds to go but couldn’t close it out.
Earlier in the season, they had an 11-point lead at Eastern Michigan, a 10-point advantage on Youngstown State at home and a 13-point edge on South Florida in Myrtle Beach but lost each time.
Leads were a lot easier to protect before the shot clock. It was introduced in 1985 and limited possessions to 45 seconds.
It’s now 30 seconds. And while no one wants to go back to the Dean Smith four-corner-offense era, it’s tough on teams to kill time without being able to go to an all-out stall.
“You’re trying to hit that sweet spot,” Sargent said of going on the attack while also draining the clock. “We’re at our best when we’re playing a little quicker, free flowing, and our guys aren’t bogged down trying to run sets. But all of a sudden, when you get to the last eight minutes, you have to change gears.
“How do you stay on the hunt and be aggressive, but then also be aware of time and score? A good shot in the first half suddenly isn’t a good shot when it gets situational.”
Robert Morris lost its poise by dribbling right into the teeth of the Raiders’ press instead of passing over it.
Sargent also has seen his team speed up when caution was required.
“How do you keep that confident nature but then switch gears? It’s hard for every team. But for us, with how we play offense, it can be even more difficult,” he said.
The Raiders have a rematch with second-place PFW (16-8, 9-4) on the road at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
They’re two games out of fourth in the HL standings, and the top four seeds earn a first-round bye and quarterfinal home game in the league tourney.
Asked about his message to his team, Sargent said: “Stay desperate. We’ve been here before where we win a game, and we know how fleeting it can be if we don’t show up tomorrow, and we don’t handle this appropriately.
“You’ve got to win three games in a row (in the HL tourney), and we haven’t done that all year. We want to be a dangerous team. I can see that in us. But we have to stay desperate.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Wright State at Purdue Fort Wayne, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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