The Raiders clearly are getting the defend-or-take-a-seat message.
They held Stetson to 35% shooting while building a 22-point first-half lead and rolled to a 79-62 victory Tuesday — their first road win of the season.
They a 24-5 lead with 9:44 to go in the first half. They trailed 5-0 after the opening 90 seconds but then held the Hatters scoreless for about nine minutes while scoring 24 straight points themselves.
They had a wide range of contributors, and Sargent credited TJ Burch and Andrea Holden on his post-game radio show for providing a defensive spark off the bench.
“I’m very proud of the humility of our players to allow us to (sub) like that — to just come in and say, ‘I’ll do whatever you need of me.’ They’re buying into it,” he said.
They went into the night first in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 62.8 per game (Robert Morris was second at 71.7).
They’re 27th nationally.
“These guys practice well. I absolutely love being around them.” said Sargent, whose team improved to 4-3 with a road game at 5-1 Butler at 2 p.m. Friday.
“We’re working on that discipline of playing with emotion and joy, but never directing it at the other team but playing for each other.”
The Hatters (3-4) finished one point off their season low in scoring, reaching just 61 in a defeat to Miami (Fla.).
Point guard Michael Cooper, part of a stout freshman recruiting class, had 19 points, going 7 of 16 overall 5 of 9 on 3’s.
Bryan Etumnu, a 6-7 senior transfer who was averaging 5.8 points, had 14 in 20 minutes.
Michael Imariagbe had 13 points and seven rebounds. Holden had 10 points and six rebounds.
The Raiders made 31 of 59 shots (52.5%) and went 14 of 26 on 3’s.
The DeLand, Fla., team made 25 of 57 shots (43.9%) but went only 7 of 23 on 3’s.
Dominic Pangonis, who started both games at the Greenbrier Tip-off, returned after a one-game absence with an elbow injury and had six points and three assists in 25 minutes.
NEXT GAME
Who: Wright State at Butler
When: 2 p.m. Friday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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