After dropping crushers against Kent State (by four) and Youngstown State (by one), the Raiders held a late five-point lead and still had a one-point edge on Sam Alamutu’s 3 with 54 seconds left.
But Marshall made all of the key plays after that, hitting a 3, forcing a turnover and drilling two foul shots on the way to a 76-74 win Saturday.
The Raiders, who dropped to 5-6, were 2-9 last season in games decided by four points or fewer or in overtime. They are now 0-3 this season.
“I’m so tired of this. ... These interviews are like a recurring nightmare. But a breakthrough is coming,” the second-year coach said on his post-game radio show.
“Those (players) in there are resilient. We’re doing a number of things I believe in. But until we break through, there’s just going to be that wrestling match.”
After building a 43-34 lead one minute into the second half, the Raiders went more than six minutes without scoring, allowing the Herd (7-4) to catch up.
But TJ Burch hit a 3 and then made a free throw for a 60-56 lead at 7:09.
Alaumtu buried a 3 at 5:36 for a 63-58 edge.
But Marshall scored eight straight points for a 66-63 lead at 2:40.
Noah Otshudi made a jumper for a 70-68 lead for the home team with 1:22 left.
After Alamutu’s trey, 6-10 senior Wyatt Fricks, who led Marshall with 19 points, hit a 3 for a 73-71 lead.
Point guard Michael Cooper then was stripped of the ball, and Jalen Speer made two free throws with 19 seconds left for a 75-71 lead.
Solomon Callaghan answered with a 3 with 10 seconds to go, making it a one-point game.
Cooper fouled with seven seconds left. Landen Joseph missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Fricks grabbed the rebound and was fouled.
He made the first with four ticks to go but missed the second. A desperation shot by Logan Woods didn’t connect.
“We’re not flinching in that locker room. We’re just not. I was happy with our ‘compete.’ We had a stretch at the under-8 media (timeout) where we just kind of lost our nerve a little bit, but that’s what happens on the road. I thought we responded,” Sargent said.
Cooper scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half, going 9 of 13 from the field and 4 of 5 on 3’s.
Fellow freshman Kellen Pickett also hit double figures with 10 off the bench.
The Raiders had just five turnovers with eight steals, including three by Woods.
They shot only 39.7% from the field and made only six trips to the foul line, hitting four.
While they had 18 offensive rebounds, they gave up 19, losing the overall board battle by one.
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