A-10 tournament: Dayton Flyers will play Saint Joseph's, UMass or La Salle in quarterfinals

Five years ago, Dayton Flyers guard Jalen Crutcher threw down the most memorable dunk of his career against Virginia Commonwealth at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. His one-handed slam on the fast break with a defender draped all over him stood out because it was unexpected. It was his only dunk of the 2019-20 season.

On Friday at VCU, Enoch Cheeks delivered a similar moment. He caught a bounce pass in the lane from Malachi Smith and jumped to dunk with one hand against 6-foot-10 VCU forward Christian Fermin, who is 7 inches taller than Cheeks.

The slam, which gave Dayton a 39-37 lead early in the second half, wasn’t unexpected. Cheeks is Dayton’s best dunker and has several memorable slams in the last seasons. What made it great was the force Cheeks used to power the ball through the hoop.

“I just had the energy,” Cheeks said. “I had to get up. I knew I had to finish at the rim. I missed some bunnies throughout the game. I wanted to make sure I made this one.”

Enoch Cheeks throws one down to cut VCU lead to one. VCU answers and leads 53-50 at 7:56. pic.twitter.com/aU4MpTgltl
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) March 8, 2025

The unforgettable dunk played a part in Dayton’s 79-76 victory against VCU. Dayton secured the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament and stopped VCU from winning the outright regular-season championship.

George Mason won 64-60 at Richmond on Saturday night to clinch a share of the A-10 title. It’s the first time George Mason has finished atop the standings in 12 seasons in the A-10.

“This is truly a blessing,” second-year George Mason head coach Tony Skinn said after the game in a story on the school’s website. “I said when I got this job that I was going to work my butt off to get us back to where we belong.”

George Mason and VCU finished 15-3 in A-10 play, three games ahead of Dayton and Loyola Chicago (both 12-6).

The A-10 tournament starts Wednesday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. No. 3 seed Dayton (22-9) will play No. 6 Saint Josephs (20-10), No. 11 Massachusetts (12-19) or No. 14 La Salle (13-18) in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

If the top seeds advance, Dayton would play No. 2 seed George Mason (24-7) in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The championship game takes place at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Dayton has failed to win the last 20 A-10 tournaments. It last won the championship in 2003. Its other conference tournament championship came in 1990 when it was a member of the Midwestern Collegiate Conference. Both of those tournaments took place at UD Arena. Dayton has never won a conference tournament away from home.

Dayton will be the No. 3 seed for the second season in a row. It lost 65-57 to the eventual tournament champion, No. 6 seed Duquesne, in the quarterfinals last season at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The No. 6 seed has won the tournament three times in the last five years: Duquesne (2024); Richmond (2022); and Saint Louis (2019). However, in the past 20 tournaments, only six teams outside the top four seeds have won the championship, winning four games en route to the title instead of three.

Dayton is 0-2 as the No. 3 seed in coach Anthony Grant’s tenure with the loss to Duquesne last season and a 64-55 loss to Saint Louis in 2019. Dayton is 4-6 in the A-10 tournament in his tenure.

“You always want to be a top-four seed,” Grant said Friday. “You always want that double bye. Honestly, I’m not sure if that’s an advantage. The team you play has familiarity with the court. Last year, we ended up with a double-overtime game before us. There’s some things that come with it. But overall, yeah, I’d rather have to win three than four.”

Here is the complete A-10 tournament schedule:

Wednesday

FIRST ROUND

Game 1: No. 12 Davidson vs. No. 13 Richmond, 11:30 a.m., USA Network

Game 2: No. 10 Rhode Island vs. No. 15 Fordham: 2 p.m., USA Network

Game 3: No. 11 Massachusetts vs. No. 14 La Salle: 4:30 p.m.USA Network

Thursday

SECOND ROUND

Game 4: No. 8 St. Bonaventure vs. No. 9 Duquesne: 11:30 a.m., USA Network

Game 5: No. 5 Saint Louis vs. Winner of Game 1: 2:00 p.m., USA Network

Game 6: No. 7 George Washington vs. Winner of Game 2: 5 p.m., USA Network

Game 7: No. 6 Saint Joseph’s vs. Winner of Game 3: 7:30 p.m., USA Network