The Raiders didn’t have their customary juice most of the night — though coach Clint Sargent credited the visitors for making them look a step slow at times— but their 85-73 win before 2,981 fans gave their title aspirations a major boost.
“People think this is coach-speak, but I’ve been in the league a long time and have a ton of respect for all the coaches we face, and that’s heartfelt. I think (IU Indy’s) Ben Howlett and their staff are brilliant,” Sargent said.
“People are going to look at me (odd) based of their record, but they’re hard to play against and difficult to guard. We’re really happy to get the win.”
The Raiders were in a tie game with the Jaguars at 57-all with 11:15 to go.
It was a narrow 65-63 lead with 5:55 left.
But they took charge after that, building a 74-65 bulge.
Michael Imariagbe’s third three-point play of the night pushed the lead to 68-63. And Kellen Pickett added an inside bucket for a seven-point spread, helping the Raiders out of danger.
They’re 18-10 overall and 13-4 in the league and have a two-game lead over Oakland (going into their game Friday) with three to play.
“I think Michael Imariagbe (19 points, six rebounds) was tremendous, just being a steady communicator. He led in so many pockets of that game where you can lose your nerve, and I didn’t think we did. I thought we were pretty resilient,” Sargent said.
“We’re going to learn from this. We have a number of guys who can play better, and we can play better as a team.”
TJ Burch had 23 points, four assists and three steals.
Pickett had 11 points and 10 rebounds. And Dom Pangonis had 14 points.
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
“Every team is trying to get a piece of us because we’re at the top. I feel like teams at the bottom are still pretty good. They don’t have anything to lose. When you play them, they’re playing with all they’ve got,” Imariagbe said.
The Raiders shot 52.7% and held the Jags to a 4-for-20 effort on 3’s.
“In mid-February and early March, that’s where teams — it’s a long season — lose their focus. Every day in practice, we’re preaching staying focused. Our biggest thing is staying locked in until we finish what we started,” Burch said.
Next game
Who: Robert Morris at Wright State
When: 2 p.m. Sunday
Streaming:
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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