After having a late five-point lead erased, Robert Morris claimed a 75-72 victory Sunday afternoon, seizing control on Amarion Dickerson’s dunk with three seconds left and, after a Raider turnover, a free throw by Dickerson with 1.4 seconds left.
Brandon Noel gave the visitors a ray of hope when he made a long 3, but, after checking the monitors, the officials ruled it came after the buzzer.
“I thought we were trying to turn the corner, but a missed layup or a missed free throw or an untimely turnover — against a good Robert Morris team on the road, you have to clean that up. It’s very correctable, very simple things, but it’s still another close loss,” Sargent said on his post-game radio show.
The Raiders, who are 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the league, have had five games decided by four points or fewer and have lost four of them.
“We were out-coached today. We’re going to have to respond quickly because we play Wednesday-Saturday. We need to take a hard look at this — all of us, and myself first — and learn from it,” Sargent said.
“It’s hard to swallow having that many opportunities to win the game. It’s why we’re an average team right now.”
Playing without star guard Alex Huibregtse (back), Noel led the way with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Andrew Welage had 14 points off the bench, going 4 of 6 on 3′s. He’s had only one other double-figure game this season, getting 12 at Oakland.
Jack Doumbia had 11 points but went only 4 of 15 from the field, while Keaton Norris had 10 points and three assists.
Doumbia made a jumper at 4:10 to cut Robert Morris’ lead to 66-65. He then made a steal and cashed in two free throws at 3:55 for the Raiders’ first lead since early in the second half.
The Colonials (11-7, 2-3) regained the lead, but Doumbia scored again at 2:30 to put the Raiders in front, 69-68.
Alvaro Folgueiras scored inside at 2:03 to give Robert Morris a 70-69 edge.
The teams traded misses, and Noel was fouled at 1:12. He missed the first but made the second to tie it at 70-all.
The Raiders got a stop, but Doumbia had a turnover, and Kam Woods drove to a bucket to give the Colonials a 72-70 edge with 40 seconds to go.
Wright State called timeout with 37 seconds left, setting up a shot for Doumbia. He missed a jumper at the foul line, but Noel snagged the rebound and put it in for a tie game with 24 seconds to go.
After a timeout with 22 seconds left, Robert Morris executed a pick-and-roll, and Dickerson slipped free for a slam. Doumbia then coughed it up after losing his dribble with 1.4 seconds left.
After a foul to stop the clock, Dickerson made one of two free throws with 1.1 seconds left.
The Raiders made only 26 of 62 shots (41.9%) but went 7 of 15 on 3′s.
The Colonials had a big edge at the foul line, going 19 of 27, while Wright State was 13 of 21.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Purdue Fort Wayne at Wright State, 7 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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