The students, filling the section under the basket near the Dayton bench, called Holmes names and poked fun at Dayton guard Javon Bennett’s size. None of it helped the Hawks. Dayton took over the game with a 24-3 run in the second half and rolled to a 94-79 victory.
Kobe Elvis put the exclamation point on the game with a 3-pointer in the final seconds. No one was guarding him, but the shot clock would have run out if he didn’t shoot. By the time Elvis let the shot go, Holmes was already waving goodbye to the students and putting his head in his hands, telling them it was time to go to sleep without using any words. Bennett sent them goodbye kisses as well as he walked to the postgame handshake line.
All in all, it was one of the most enjoyable victories of the season for Dayton (19-3, 9-1) because it silenced a packed Hagan Arena and a crowd of 2,923 with a 60-point second half, its highest-scoring half of the season. The Flyers moved into first place in the A-10 by a half game over Richmond (18-6, 8-1).
“We’re just trying to keep stacking these wins and keep building momentum,” Dayton guard Koby Brea said.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 22nd game:
1. The Flyers had balanced scoring: All five starters scored in double figures. Nate Santos and Elvis each scored 21. Bennett had 18. Holmes had 13. Enoch Cheeks added 12. Brea scored nine points off the bench.
“That just shows the versatility that our team has on any given day,” Elvis said, “and that shows just how many weapons our team has. Guys that can really shoot the ball and put the ball on the floor and score on all three levels.”
Dayton made 12 of 22 3-pointers (54.5%), including 8 of 12 in the second half. It has shot 50% or better eight times this season. It’s shooting 40% on the season. That ranks sixth in the country.
Santos, Bennett and Cheeks all made two 3-pointers. Elvis and Brea each made 3 of 5.
2. Dayton’s defense stepped up in the second half: The Flyers trailed 23-12 midway through the first half and 38-34 at halftime. After the teams traded 3-pointers to start the second half, Dayton trailed 41-37 with 19 minutes to play.
That’s when the game turned. Dayton started a 15-0 run on a 3-pointer by Bennett at the 18:24 mark. In the next eight minutes, the Hawks made one field goal. Meanwhile, Dayton kept extending its lead, pushing it to 61-44 at the 10:54 mark.
“In the second half, I thought our guys did a great job of being aggressive,” Grant said. “We were able to defensively kind of take away some of the stuff that was hurting us early.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. The Flyers earned praise from Billy Lange: The Saint Joseph’s coach saw his team lose its fourth straight game to Dayton and its third in the last five years to Dayton at Hagan Arena.
“They’re as good as anybody we’ve played,” Lange said. “I thought our guys gave great fight and not just in the first half but in the last 10 minutes of the game. When you start 4 for 18 in the second half, you have to have a maturity and a discipline really down at the other end to just kind of hang because you go through lulls like that. It happens, especially against them because they’re one of the best defensive teams in our conference. They might be built best by the metrics. And we didn’t do that. Part of it’s them. Part of it’s us. You’ve got to try to keep it a little bit closer when you’re going through a lull like that against a really good team.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Kobe Elvis scored Dayton’s first five points and its last three points. He finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and led the team with 10 assists. He scored a total of four points in home victories against George Washington and St. Bonaventure last week and had not scored 20 since tallying 24 and 27 points in back-to-back games against Troy and Cincinnati in December.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton scored its highest points total in a road game since a 98-64 victory at George Mason eight years ago on the same day: Feb. 6, 2016.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton flew to Richmond, Va., after the game Tuesday and will stay in Richmond until it play Virginia Commonwealth at 7 p.m. Friday at the Siegel Center. VCU (15-8, 7-3) won 75-60 at Fordham on Tuesday.
Dayton and VCU played three times last season. VCU won 63-62 at UD Arena in January. Dayton won 62-58 at VCU in February. VCU beat Dayton 68-56 in the A-10 championship game in March.
Dayton has beaten VCU in its last two trips to the Siegel Center, and VCU is 3-0 in its last three games against the Flyers at UD Arena. VCU has won its last three A-10 home games after opening conference play with losses to St. Bonaventure and George Washington.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton at VCU, 7 p.m., ESPN2, 95.7, 1290
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