“Mali, tie your shoes!” he yelled.
Smith’s shoes were tied. This was a common tactic — more commonly used in pickup hoops — meant to disrupt Smith. It didn’t work in the first half as Dayton built a 19-point lead. That would turn out to be enough but just barely as the Flyers held off a Saint Joseph’s comeback in the second half for a 77-72 victory. Smith made two free throws with five seconds remaining to clinch the win.
Dayton led from start to finish in its third straight victory, but it was a tense night for the crowd of 13,407, which knows Dayton needs to keep stacking victories to have a chance in the Atlantic 10 Conference race.
“Proud of our guys,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “This was obviously a big game. St. Joe’s is extremely talented, hard to defend, a really good team. We knew we’d have to be locked in. I thought our guys really did a great job defensively in the first half, making it difficult for them, and then we were able to find a rhythm from an offensive standpoint and built the lead.
“We knew that they were going to have a run. They’re just too good, too talented. We were able to keep them at bay throughout the game.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 20th game:
1. Dayton’s success Tuesday in a 20-point victory at Duquesne carried over to the first half: After making 9 of 13 3-pointers in the first half in Pittsburgh in an 82-62 victory, the Flyers made 5 of 11 in the first half against the Hawks.
Dayton stretched a 14-6 lead to 25-6 with an 11-0 run in less than three minutes. Dayton led by 19 after two free throws by Jaiun Simon with 10 minutes, 39 seconds to play. It pushed the lead to 19 once more later in the half but saw the lead shrink to 39-26 by halftime.
Dayton forward Nate Santos scored 17 of 24 points in the first half. Smith had five of his eight assists in the half.
“I think we just played to our identity,” Smith said. “Guys got good shots. We hit them, and we were getting stops on defense. We had high energy in the first half.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. The momentum shifted in the second half: Saint Joseph’s dared Dayton freshman forward Amaël L’Etang to shoot the 3-pointer all night, leaving him wide open at the top of the arc. He made 1 of 4 3s in the first half and then made his first attempt in the second half to give Dayton a 42-26 lead. He would make one more to finish 3 of 9 with 14 points.
The 16-point lead would be Dayton’s largest of the second half. For a 16-minute stretch, Dayton’s lead fluctuated between 10 and 6 points.
Dayton’s offense got into ruts at times, searching for looks late in the shot clock. On the other end, the shots that didn’t drop for Saint Joseph’s started to fall. The Hawks missed their first nine 3-point attempts and shot 17.6% (3 of 17) in the half but made 6 of 16 (37.5%) in the second half.
“The energy kind of died out a little bit,” Smith said. “They started hitting some shots, which they’re capable of doing. We definitely could have had a better sense of urgency, but for the most part, we’re just glad we got the W. That’s the most important thing.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Dayton kept the momentum going: The Flyers (14-6, 4-3) moved into a tie for fifth place with Massachusetts (9-11, 4-3) in the A-10. They have won three straight games against Loyola Chicago, Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s after losing three straight to George Washington, UMass and George Mason.
The Flyers also got back to full strength, at least in terms of available players Friday. Posh Alexander returned to action after missing three games with a foot injury. Zed Key also saw action after missing the game Tuesday with a back injury.
One of the most difficult weeks of the season awaits Dayton. It plays at St. Bonaventure on Tuesday and then at Saint Louis on Friday. It will fly from Buffalo to Saint Louis on Wednesday instead of returning to Dayton in between the games.
“We feel really good,” Santos said. “We’re finding our identity again.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Santos matched his season high with 24 points. He also hit that total against Lehigh in December. He fell two short of his career high, which he reached last season against Grambling State. He has made 7 of 8 3s in the last two games.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 15 of 18 free throws (83.3%). It’s the seventh time it has shot 80% or better this season. In 21 games, it has shot 73.5%. The national average is 71.8. Dayton shot 74% last season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays at St. Bonaventure (15-5, 3-4) at 8 p.m. Tuesday. St. Bonaventure (15-5, 3-4) had lost four of its last five games entering a late Friday night game at Virginia Commonwealth (15-4, 5-1).
TUESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at St. Bonaventure, 8 p.m., YES Network, ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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