“We went through the gauntlet — a really talented Oakland team, Cleveland State who had swept us and Northern Kentucky who had swept us,” said Sargent, the team’s top assistant then.
“The Oakland game, we were down 14 with 13 minutes left at home,” he said.
“In the title game, we were down as much as 16 against NKU.”
If fact-checkers took a crack at Sargent’s off-the-top-of-his-head version of events, they couldn’t find fault with any of it.
The fourth-seeded Raiders actually were down 14 points when Andrew Welage hit a 3 with 13:44 to go, igniting a rally over the fifth-seeded Grizzlies in the 75-63 win.
Cleveland State and NKU did indeed sweep both games in the regular-season.
And after beating the Vikings, 82-67, in the semifinals, the Raiders fell behind, 57-41, with 11:41 to go against NKU before staging a furious comeback.
Down one with the ball, Trey Calvin hit a jumper near the elbow for a 72-71 lead with 10 seconds left, and it turned out to be the game-winner after the Norse missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Though coaches sometimes need help finding the silverware drawer at home, Sargent’s ability to recall details from four years ago shows much he and his peers live and die with each game — especially with an NCAA tourney bid on the line.
The top-seeded Raiders are one of five teams left standing. They’ll play the winner of Sunday’s game between Green Bay and Northern Kentucky in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Monday at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis on ESPNU.
Second-seeded Robert Morris faces third-seeded Detroit Mercy at 9:30 Monday on ESPN2.
The championship game is 7 p.m. Tuesday on ESPN.
The Raiders have won four league tourney titles: 2022, 2018, 2007 and, as part of the Mid-Continent Conference, in 1993.
“You just have to run into it. You can’t expect anything to be given to you. That has to be the mentality,” Sargent said.
“You’ve got to be resilient. You have to have a nerve about you that no matter what the time and score, you can stay in the fight. That’s the thing about post-season play. Everything feels weightier. I think our guys experienced that.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
They certainly were in some high-intensity environments while spending most of the season in first and being the team everyone wanted to knock off.
But they never hit a slump. They went 8-2 in the first half of the league season and 7-3 in the second half.
Even more impressive was their 8-2 road league record.
That’s the best they’ve done away from home in the conference in program history.
“We’ve been in first for almost two months. We’ve had to finish off the regular-season title. We understand (what’s required), thankfully. We’re just excited to go compete.”
Next game
Who: Green Bay or Northern Kentucky vs. Wright State
What: Horizon League tournament semifinal
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Corteva Coliseum, Indianapolis
Streaming: ESPNU
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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