First game at UD Arena still memorable for Dayton seniors

Sibert’s shot against IPFW gave them first career victory
Dayton players lock arms on the bench during the final seconds of their game against IPFW on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at UD Arena. David Jablonski/Staff

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Dayton players lock arms on the bench during the final seconds of their game against IPFW on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at UD Arena. David Jablonski/Staff

On the eve of the last home game for the Dayton Flyers seniors, it's worth looking back on the first home game for three of them — Kendall Pollard, Kyle Davis and Scoochie Smith — because it remains one of the most memorable games in their careers.

Dayton trailed 80-78 with six seconds to play against IPFW in the season opener on Nov. 9, 2013. The Mastodons, who would turn out to be a strong team, finishing the season 25-11, had to in-bound the ball from under Dayton’s basket.

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Pierre bland attempted a pass to half court. Dayton sophomore point guard Khari Price intercepted it and fell to the ground with the ball. Price passed to freshman guard Kyle Davis, who found junior Jordan Sibert open in the corner.

Sibert made the go-ahed 3-pointer with one second to play. It was the first career assist for Davis, who has 243 going into Senior Night at 8 p.m. Wednesday against Virginia Commonwealth. Dayton won 81-80, and the seniors have won 100 more games since that game.

Each of the freshmen played in the game. Scoochie Smith had two points in six minutes. Davis played five minutes and missed his only field-goal attempt. When asked about his memories of the game Monday, Pollard said he played eight minutes, but he really only played one minute. He had a great look at the final play, however.

“As Kyle got the steal, I was just jumping up and down because I knew Jordan was going to make the shot,” Pollard said. “If you go back and look at the clip, I was probably jumping for 15 seconds. That was probably the most memorable game I ever played in at the arena.”

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