Grant could have been celebrating a 77-76 victory against Duquesne on Saturday afternoon, but his first impulse was to make sure the officials knew he had complaints.
“I had an issue with a non-call at the end of the game,” Grant said. “For me, I’ve got to reflect on Proverbs 29:11: ‘A fool gets pulled into his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.’ I struggled with that in that moment because the outcome could have been completely different with that non-call. We all have an obligation to do our jobs, and I had a problem with that.”
Grant would not say exactly which play upset him — “There was a litany of them,” he said — but Duquesne guard Tre Dinkins created space for a 3-point attempt at the buzzer by pushing Dayton guard Javon Bennett in the chest. Dinkins still missed the shot. If he had made the shot, Duquesne would have won.
Instead, Dayton (18-8, 8-5) celebrated a victory that kept it in third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with five games to play. It’s four games behind George Mason (21-5, 12-1) and three behind Virginia Commonwealth (20-5, 10-2). Dayton is a half game ahead of Loyola Chicago (16-9, 7-5).
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 26th game:
1. Malachi Smith almost blew the game but then won the game: After nearly losing at home to Davidson two home games ago by giving up an 8-0 run in the final minutes and then losing at home to Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 7 because of a 12-0 run in the final minutes, Dayton gave up a game-tying 5-0 run to Duquesne in the final 20 seconds.
Dayton led 76-71 after two free throws by Zed Key with 20 seconds remaining. Duquesne’s Tre Dinkins then made a 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play.
After the basket by Dinkin’s, Dayton’s Malachi Smith caught the in-bounds pass but was trapped by Dinkins and Cam Crawford under the basket. Instead of calling a timeout, he threw a pass that Crawford deflected and Kareem Rozier intercepted. Rozier passed the ball back to Crawford, who scored a game-tying layup with seven seconds to play.
“I thought Nate (Santos) was open,” Smith said. “(Rozier) came out of nowhere. I did not see him. I’m not going to lie.”
Smith got the in-bounds pass again, and this time, he was fouled by Crawford with six seconds to play. It appeared to be an intentional foul, as if Crawford didn’t know the game was tied and wanted to stop the clock. The stunned reactions of Crawford’s teammates showed the same.
“I think he didn’t know the score,” Smith said. “I think he must have thought they were down one. He came out of nowhere and fouled me.”
It was the second straight home victory in which Dayton was bailed out when an opposing player made a poor decision. A technical foul against Davidson for taunting in the final minute led to Dayton’s 69-63 victory on Feb. 4.
Smith made 1 of 2 free throws to give Dayton the 77-76 lead. Dinkins then missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“Luckily, I made the second one, and we got the stop,” Smith said. “The most important thing is we got the W. But my turnover, that’s really unlike me, especially in the clutch moment.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton took control of the game in the final minutes: Until the 5-0 run by Duquesne, Dayton had the momentum with an 8-0 run. The Flyers trailed 69-66 with 3:42 to go.
At that point, Dayton had been having trouble throughout the half getting stops. Duquesne scored on eight straight possessions earlier in the half.
A dunk by Zed Key at the 3:24 mark started the Dayton comeback. Smith’s layup on the next possession gave Dayton a 70-69 lead with 2:37 to play. A jumper by Bennett and two free throws by Smith with 52 seconds to play capped the 8-0 run.
Duquesne missed three shots during the run and committed a turnover.
“We had to get stops, and we had to get rebounds,” Grant said. “Throughout the course of the game, they really hurt us on the glass. I thought our ability to not only create misses but also to be able to secure rebounds was helpful. Then the guys did a great job on the other end of being able to execute and get the looks and the opportunities that we wanted, whether it was scoring baskets or being able to get to the free-throw line down the stretch. Overall, if there were 10 plays down the stretch, we executed really well on eight of them, and the two that we didn’t were monumental and almost changed the course of the game.”
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Dayton completed a regular-season sweep of Duquesne for the second straight season: Dayton beat Duquesne 82-62 in January in Pittsburgh. That game was never close. This was a completely different game.
The Dukes (10-15, 5-7) led by 12 points in the first half and had a 44-40 lead at halftime.
“I thought Duquesne took the fight to us to start the game,” Grant said. “Obviously, it was a month ago that we played them, and we were able to take the fight to them. We knew they would come out and make adjustments and play with great enthusiasm and energy. They did that in the first half. We had to regroup and battle. I thought our guys did that. We were able to make a run in the first half to cut it to a two-possession game at the half. Some adjustments in the second half kind of helped. But they’re a good team. I’ve said this all year. This league is full of good teams. On any given night, anything can happen.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Enoch Cheeks led Dayton with 19 points in 32 minutes, but Zed Key had the best stat line. He scored a season-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting. He grabbed a team-high six rebounds in 19 minutes.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Loyola Chicago (16-9, 7-5) at 7 p.m. Friday at Joseph J. Gentile Arena. The Flyers won the first matchup 83-81 in overtime on Jan. 18 at UD Arena.
Loyola beat Saint Louis 78-69 in Chicago on Friday night for its fourth victory in the last five games. It plays at Davidson on Tuesday.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Loyola Chicago, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 95.7, 1290
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