The ball worked its way inside the paint and back to the arc as the shot clock ticked into single digits. Back inside and out to Kam Woods in the right corner.

Woods’ 3-point shot went up and bounded off the back of the iron before kissing the backboard and falling through the hoop to the buzzer of the shot clock expiring.

Those types of plays add up for a hot team heading into March, and right now Robert Morris arguably is the Horizon League’s hottest.

Alvaro Folgueiras scored 22 points, Amarion Dickerson added 16 and Robert Morris continued its torrid play Saturday, winning for the fourth consecutive time and 10th in the past 11 games, a 76-69 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne at UPMC Events Center to inch within a game of first place in the Horizon League.

Robert Morris (20-8, 12-5), which led for all but 17 seconds, reached 20 wins in a season for the first time since 2019-20, when the Colonials won the Northeast Conference Tournament championship and posted a 20-14 mark in their final season in the league.

Coach Andy Toole, in his 15th season at Robert Morris, experienced that 20-win season then as he did Saturday — with little fanfare.

“We haven’t accomplished anything yet,” he said. “There’s still a lot of things available to us.”

The Colonials earned an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Tournament, but the games were canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic. Now, Robert Morris is attempting to earn another NCAA bid in its fifth season in the Horizon.

“I’m excited for our guys,” Toole said. “They believed we could become a good team, and they’ve worked to get us to a level where we’re a competitive team and have chances to win against a lot of teams in our league. It’s a credit to them and a credit to the staff.”

Robert Morris has three regular-season games remaining, beginning with two straight at home — the first Friday night against last-place Green Bay — before playing in the Horizon League Tournament from March 4-11.

The top five teams receive first-round byes. Higher-seeded teams among the remaining six schools will get home games through the quarterfinals. The semifinals and championship game will be played at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.

Robert Morris, which shot a season-high 54.7% and outrebounded Purdue Fort Wayne, 44-32, also got 12 points from Woods.

The Colonials have won 14 games in their past 17 starts after a three-game losing streak from Nov. 30 to Dec. 8 that included an 82-77 decision at Purdue Fort Wayne.

“We are on a roll more than any team in the league now,” Folgueiras said. “We’ve got to keep it going. We’ve got three (regular-season) games left.”

Rasheed Bello led Purdue Fort Wayne (18-10, 11-6) with 25 points. Quinton Morton-Robertson added 15, and Jalen Jackson finished with 12 for the Mastodons, who entered the day in a three-way tie for second with Robert Morris and Youngstown State.

The Penguins play at first-place Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon.

Robert Morris shot 58.6% in the first half with Folgueiras and Dickerson combining for 30 points. The Colonials enjoyed their largest lead of 35-21 before halftime, where RMU settled for a 40-31 advantage.

Purdue Fort Wayne made a late second-half push, cutting a 13-point deficit to 72-69 on Bello’s three-point play with 27 seconds left.

Ryan Prather Jr. followed with two free throws for Robert Morris to push the lead to 74-69, and the Colonials defense got a pair of stops to ensure victory.

Toole continued a theme focused on defending. He’s noticeably been impressed lately with his club’s cohesive play.

“Again, our defense was the story,” he said. “Throughout the game, we did a really good job of defending. They’re a hard team to guard. We did a really good job of making it difficult on them and protecting the rim.”

And not allowing the Mastodons many chances at the free-throw line (10 for 12).

“It was a good job of defending with urgency and with discipline,” Toole said. “They’re a veteran team — one of the top teams in the league, picked first or second in almost every poll. Jackson and Bello are two of the three returning all-league players.”

Folgueiras, who shot 8 for 12 and also contributed seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, said playing alongside Dickerson has made both players work harder, and it’s paying off.

Dickerson shot 7 for 11 and added five rebounds.

“It was hard for all of us to connect at first,” Folgueiras said. “What we’ve learned over time is the most important things are our priorities and how we are able to understand each other and play for each other.”

With the chemistry this bunch has developed, it could be yet another sign of a hot team heading into March.

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