By ERIC RUEB

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PROVIDENCE – In the past, Providence has let Cinderella attend the ball, but they rarely let her out of the foyer.

She took a peek Thursday – and showed what the tournament is all about.

Robert Morris wore the glass slippers for the first 40 minutes and did everything it its power to put them on in the closing seconds before falling in overtime to Villanova 73-70, and only because Mezie Nwigwe’s buzzer-beating 3-point try missed its mark, much to the Dunkin Donuts Center’s dismay.

It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Cinderella has some history in Providence.

It was 21 years ago this week that No. 16 seed Princeton, with its surgeon-like backdoor cuts and pace only a snail could love, nearly upset Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and John Thompson’s mighty Georgetown Hoyas.

Robert Morris didn’t need to be reminded of the history the building held. While coach Mike Rice didn’t know specifically that the Tigers nearly upended Georgetown in Providence, he knew what 16s had come close to beating No. 1 seeds and could name the 15 seeds that did beat No. 2s.

“We didn’t go back to them and show clips, but we had the list,” Rice said in the locker room. “… I wanted to be a list.”

Being part of a list is what the NCAA Tournament is all about.

You can list the winning teams, but more people remember the big upsets – Bryce Drew and Valparaiso shocking Mississippi State in 1998, Princeton back-dooring its way past defending champion UCLA in 1996, Richmond becoming the first No. 15 to win when it topped Syracuse in 1991 – and Wednesday, the only people cheering for the Wildcats were playing, on the bench or wearing blue and white.

The anatomy of an upset is simple. You do it the same way you win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest or American Idol. Wow the crowd at the start so they get behind you, then hope to hold on to momentum.

Robert Morris – or Bobby Mo, as they’re more affectionately called – followed the recipe. It had maybe 1,000 fans that made a 10-hour overnight trip from Moon Township, Pa., to Providence proudly wearing red and blue and their infections cheering made its way throughout the Dunk.

Neutral fans rooted for the Colonials, cheered after every made basket, groaned on every Villanova shot and booed whenever a call went against RMU.

Sitting in his seat on media row, Robert Morris Associate Athletic Director of Student Services nervously twitched his legs once the Colonial started, e-mailed back and forth on his BlackBerry and he and school AD Craig Coleman quietly cheered on every play. They knew the importance of the game to the tiny school.

“Things like this,” Coleman said, “put us on the map.”

“It’s part of building a program,” Rice said. “… It looked like a real program out there. Certainly in the stands it did also.”

Robert Morris freshman Karon Abraham put himself on the map as well.

The freshman for Philly knocked down a shot that would have been remembered for ages, a 28-foot 3-pointer from the right wing that turned a four-point deficit to one with 10 seconds left.

“When you don’t want to lose, you give it everything you’ve got and you find ways to make plays,” Abraham said. “That’s all I did.”

It was a shot Rice wasn’t surprised to see, but one he wishes he could have seen again in the closing seconds.

“That kid has more onions than anybody I know as a freshman,” Rice said. “It’s just one of those things. I should have never taken the ball out of his hands at the end of the game.”

The end of the game provided the type of moment losing teams don’t get – and the type of thing the tournament is about.

After watching Nova race off the court like it had just pulled the upset, RMU’s Dallas Green and Abraham both kneeled on the floor in tears before slowly rising and heading to the post-game handshake line.

When it was done, the entire Colonial team slowly walked toward its rampant student section and something strange happened.

The Dunkin Donuts Center was on its feet. They wanted to see a show and Rice had promised one, saying he’d cut the nets down if they had won the game.

“We would have cut down the nets. Guaranteed,” Green said. “We would have kept everything -  we would have kept the ball, we would have kept the towels, would have kept everything.”

They didn’t get a chance to cut the nets down, but the crowd appreciated the effort. If the game was a Disney movie, that’s where the sappy music would have played and the camera would have scanned the entire crowd as the Robert Morris team waved in appreciation.

 “At the end of the night, to get a standing ovation from the entire stadium, it just shows that we gave our all,” Abraham said. “There’s nothing more I could say, ask for, or say about it.”

This Cinderella didn’t get to see the ballroom floor.

But she provided a moment that showed what the tourney is about.