Reynolds hit his only 3 of the game in OT to give the Wildcats a cushion, and although Abraham kept the Colonials close, it wasn’t enough.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Abraham said. “They put on a jersey, just like I put on a jersey.”

Abraham, a 5-foot-9 guard with a mohawk, put most of the soldout crowd solidly behind Robert Morris in the second half on a pair of highlight reel plays. His first came from just beyond the arc, he banked an off-balance 3 and crashed to the court on a foul. He made the free throw for the rare four-point play and a 42-34 lead.

He followed that by scooting down the baseline and tossing up a one-handed layup that went up and in for an eight-point lead and brought out cheers of “Robert Morris! Robert Morris!”

“When he hit that (bank), ‘Oh my God,’ ” Wright said.

The Colonials came out firing from 3-point range in an early attempt to rattle the Wildcats. Abraham sank his first three 3s — a run-and-shoot from way beyond the arc brought the fans to life — and helped them take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until there was 1:48 left.

Robert Morris led 28-22 at halftime, but never could build the lead to double digits, even with a 21-10 edge on the boards and holding the Wildcats to only 30 percent shooting at the break.

For all the Colonials did right, they did just as much wrong. Those early 3s from Abraham helped, but the Colonials missed their next eight attempts. Robert Morris turned the ball over a whopping 21 times to keep the Wildcats in the hunt.

“I’m never going to forget us playing Villanova, almost beating Villanova, up by six with 2 minutes left in the game,” forward Dallas Green said. “I’ll never forget that experience. That’s it.”

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Jae C. Hong / AP

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