They were 0-3 last season and 2-5, 4-4, 0-5, 4-4 and 3-5 in the five years before that in games decided by four points or fewer.
Granted, that doesn’t ease the pain they’re feeling this year while sitting at 1-6. But maybe there’s some solace in knowing that even some of the Raiders’ best teams also had trouble producing winning plays when it mattered most.
Sargent talks frequently about wanting to hang championship banners again not only for himself, but for his players, the fans and administration to revel in.
That made the 88-86 loss at Youngstown State on Thursday all the more agonizing. It essentially knocked the Raiders (11-12 overall and 5-7 in the league) out of the regular-season race, having fallen six games behind first-place Cleveland State (16-7, 11-1) with eight to go.
“I need to find the basketball solutions for our team to get better in a lot of areas, but this is like a recurring nightmare,” Sargent said.
The Raiders also have a double-overtime defeat that ended up being a seven-point margin, meaning they have one more game they could add to the hit-your-thumb-with-a-hammer list.
“We’re not talking about life and death. Our players are healthy. We have a lot of blessings. But professionally speaking, this is me being forced into the fire, by definition, right now.” Sargent said.
“I know it’s going to produce something real. The fruit is coming. I don’t know when, I don’t know if that means wins and losses. But there’s good fruit coming from this, though it’s sure painful right now.”
The Raiders host Robert Morris at 2 p.m. Sunday and will try to split the season series after falling, 75-72, on the road Jan. 12.
That game was tied, 70-70, in the final minute, but the normally unflappable Jack Doumbia had a pair of turnovers, and the Colonials scored three points in the final three seconds to prevail.
The good news for the Raiders is that league preseason player of the year Brandon Noel had a bounce-back game against Youngstown State after going through a mini-slump.
He had 23 points and 12 rebounds after averaging 15.2 points and 7.7 boards in the previous six games.
The 6-foot-8 junior also went 2 of 5 on 3′s after going 4 of 16 during his ho-hum half-dozen games.
“He was great. I thought he was assertive. I thought he was locked in, and I loved how he was communicating,” Sargent said.
“He was meeting the moment emotionally, mentally and physically. I’m extremely proud of Brandon and the growth I’m seeing in him.”
Noel is averaging 18.4 points (second in the league) and 7.9 rebounds (fifth), and Sargent wishes he could wave a magic wand and see his star’s production suddenly start leading to more wins.
“He deserves that,” the coach said.
Sargent feels the same way about Noel’s teammates.
“They deserve that feeling of affirmation of a job well done because they are absolutely doing what we ask. They care deeply. They care deeply about Wright State. They care deeply about all the things that a coach can hope,” he said.
“It just seems like there’s this withholding of the result, which I know we play a part in, but, man, it’s hard to stomach for them.”
SUNDAY’S GAME
Robert Morris at Wright State, 2 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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