The hug between the seventh-year coach and his star player after the final home game of the season brought back memories of the one Grant had in 2020 for Ryan Mikesell and Trey Landers, who Grant grabbed in a three-person bear hug after the completion of a 29-2 regular season.
The four-year anniversary of that 76-51 victory against George Washington passed on Thursday, one day before the Flyers capped their latest greatest season with one of the most thrilling games in the 54-year history of their home on Edwin Moses Boulevard. The Flyers erased an early 17-point deficit, survived a last-second miss by VCU at the end of the second half and then made big shots and got big stops in overtime to finish the regular season 24-6 overall and 14-4 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
“I’ll tell you what I told the team,” Grant said in his postgame press conference. “I’m in awe of our group. This is a special group. What these guys have had to persevere through all year, the pride they showed, the character they’ve shown, the ups and downs through the good, the bad, the adversity, the prosperity, through all of it. And then to come out tonight with VCU, and take my hat off to them, they played an outstanding game tonight. To be down 17 and never waver. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and that’s about as gritty as a performance I’ve seen in my 30-plus years of coaching.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 30th and final regular-season game:
1. Dayton completed a perfect season at home for the fourth time: Dayton was 15-0 at UD Arena this season. It’s finished 17-0 at home in 2020 and 2015 and 18-0 in 2009.
“It’s the closing of what’s felt like the longest season,” guard Kobe Elvis said. “Over the past three years, reflecting on it, we get choked up emotionally because of how much we’ve had to overcome. Being able to make history and be undefeated at home and to be out there with my brothers for maybe the last time (at home), I can’t be more grateful.”
Elvis was one of three players honored on Senior Night before the game. Zimi Nwokeji and C.J. Napier also participated in the ceremony.
Elvis could return for another season. If this was his last home game, he made it count, scoring 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and making the game-tying 3-pointer and go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton earned a rare victory against VCU: The Rams had won the last three games at UD Arena against Dayton and 11 of the last 15 games in the series. They beat Dayton 49-47 in February and had a chance to win this one on a shot in the final seconds of the second half, but Zeb Jackson missed a 3-pointer from the corner. The game headed to overtime tied at 70-70.
VCU (19-12, 11-7) settled for the No. 5 seed in the A-10 tournament as Massachusetts (20-10, 11-7) earned the No. 4 seed and the final double bye. The Minutemen beat VCU in the regular season, so they had the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It was a great all-around college basketball game,” said first-year VCU coach Ryan Odom, who first experienced UD Arena as an assistant coach on Bobby Lutz’s staff at Charlotte in 2010 and 2012. “The atmosphere was electric, and both teams really fought hard. It was one of those games you hate that anybody had to lose. All the players that played in the game had their own moments and had time to kind of shine throughout the game. It was just a tough game. Certainly, we got off to a good start knowing full well it wasn’t going to stay like that. We had to keep grinding, keep playing, knowing that they were going to come fast and furious at us, and certainly they did.”
VCU outscored Dayton 16-2 in a six-minute stretch, turning a 10-7 lead into a 26-9 advantage with 10 minutes to play in the first half. Dayton outscored VCU 22-12 in the last nine minutes of the half and trailed 38-31 at halftime. UD slowly chipped away at VCU’s lead and took its first lead on a 3-pointer by Nate Santos at the 5:43 mark.
3. Holmes shined in what may have been his final game at UD Arena: The junior forward scored 23 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He made 11 of 14 free throws, including the final two points of the game in the final seconds to clinch the victory.
Holmes said after the game he did think about the possibility of this being his final home game. His dad DaRon Holmes Sr. had the same thought. The whole Holmes family, including the youngest brother, 2026 recruit Cameron Holmes, who sat behind the UD bench, attended the game.
“It was a big game,” Holmes II said. “This is one for the books. The last home game of the season. We’re all very excited.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Dayton’s Nate Santos kept the Flyers in the game in the first half with 17 points. He finished with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He made 4 of 6 3-pointers.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 12 of 22 3-pointers (54.5%), while VCU made 18 of 42 (42.9%). The Flyers are shooting 40.7% from 3-point range. That’s the fourth-best mark in the country. They are on pace to set the single-season school record 39.2, which was set by the 1989-90 Flyers.
LOOKING AHEAD
No. 3 seed Dayton will play in the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The complete bracket will be announced Saturday night.
If Dayton wins Thursday, it will play a semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. on March 16. The A-10 championship game will take place at 1 p.m. on March 17.
THURSDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. TBA, 7:30 p.m., USA Network, 95.7, 1290
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