He didn’t just play superb defense down the stretch, steal the ball and score eight points in the final six minutes, but he did a Dr. Phil number on the Loyola guys, as well.

“I could tell they were really frustrated with each other at the end,” said Wright State guard Miles Dixon. “They started talking to each other. … It was slipping away from them and they start yelling at each other to ‘C’mon.’ … We knew to just keep doing what we were doing.”

What Wright State was doing was pulling off its most important comeback of the season. The Raiders had lost four of their past five games and looked well on their way to dropping another Monday night at the Nutter Center.

With 6:34 left, they trailed 53-40. And then one Raider after another — three of them guys off the bench — began to step and WSU edged Loyola, 62-59.

The credit goes to starting forward Cole Darling, who, in coach Billy Donlon’s words, played “like an All-League player tonight” and finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four steals. Another factor was Kendall Griffin, “the silent assassin” — again the coach’s words — who finished with eight points, seven assists and led the defensive effort.

But the guys who turned the tide were the trio off the bench: Dixon, forward Jerran Young and in a little less dramatic fashion, freshman point guard Joe Bramanti.

As WSU outscored Loyola 22-6 down the stretch, Dixon and Young combined for 15 points.

They are both older junior college transfers on a team loaded with freshmen and may be the Raiders’ most athletic players. Yet they’ve both embraced their role off the bench, when some guys in their shoes would have brooded.

“I’m sure it’s tough for them, but credit goes to them,” Donlon said. “I know it’s really hard when they do some things better than the guys who are starting, but as I’ve told them, the two things you guys do best is score. But the truth is we’re starting guys who know our defensive system. Kendall Griffin is the best defensive guard we have and Matt Vest is the second best. But it’s great when we can bring in a pair off offensive juggernauts off the bench.

“Jerran can score every way you want. He can make threes, drive you, score inside, can get offensive rebounds and beat you down the floor and get the dunk. For him it’s just about playing at an even keel emotionally. You don’t want him to be called for (cheap fouls.)”

That’s what happened Monday when he fouled out with 3:11 left.

Dixon, who had been mired in an offensive slump the past few games, said he listened to his coaches before the game: “They told me just to play as hard as I could on defense and sell out every play and my offense would come. That’s what happened. I’m glad I listened.”

Sometimes you are Dr. Phil, sometimes you listen to him.