“Put a bucket out there and keep playing,” a fan shouted from the Fordham student section.
The person running the sound system was ready for the moment, playing the TLC classic “Waterfalls” and the Milli Vanilli hit “Blame It On the Rain.”
The Dayton Flyers did not let the stoppage affect them. When action resumed, Posh Alexander made a 3-pointer to give Dayton a 70-60 lead with 9 minutes, 48 seconds remaining. That was Dayton’s first double-digit lead of the game, and the Flyers had no trouble the rest of the way, coasting to a 93-76 victory, their first-double digit victory in three weeks.
Dayton (17-8, 7-5) bounced back from a 73-68 loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Friday at UD Arena.
“Our guys showed good character and resiliency,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We’ve been able to understand that that’s what’s required.”
Daytonmoved into a tie for third place with Saint Louis (14-11, 7-5), which lost 76-74 in overtime Tuesday at home against George Mason, with six games left in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The regular-season race continues to be dominated by George Mason (20-5, 11-1) and VCU (19-5, 9-2).
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 25th game:
1. Grant experimented with the rotation: Fifth-year guard Brady Uhl played meaningful minutes the last two seasons at various times. That’s why he earned a scholarship halfway through last season. This season, he played 13 minutes against Division III Capital in November and a total of six minutes in the rest of the games — none of them at important times in the game.
That changed Wednesday when Uhl played five minutes in the first half. Grant also played junior forward Isaac Jack, who did not see action in the previous two games, for seven minutes in the game.
Asked to explain the changes, Grant said, “Just trying to put us in a position to win games.”
Of Uhl, Grant said, “Brady’s always ready. There’s been several years where we’ve had to call on him for a variety of reasons, and he always was ready. So we trust him. I thought he did a good job.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Dayton continued its dominance of the series against Fordham: Dayton improved to 37-6 in the series against Fordham. The Flyers have won five straight games against Fordham since a 55-54 loss at Rose Hill Gym in 2021. Prior to that loss, Dayton had won 16 straight games in the series since a loss at Fordham in 2006.
Malachi Smith led Dayton with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He also had five assists, three steals and no turnovers. He played his first game as a Flyer in his hometown. He grew up about 10 minutes from Rose Hill Gym. He said close to people from the Bronx came to watch him play.
“It felt good to be home in front of my friends and family,” Smith said.
Malachi’s brother Scoochie Smith was 4-0 in his career at Rose Hill Gym. Dayton is 2-0 at Fordham in Malachi’s career, but he didn’t get to play in the game two years ago.
Dayton’s other Bronx native, Alexander, made 2 of 3 3-pointers and scored eight points in his second appearance at Rose Hill. He scored 23 points in a game at Fordham as a sophomore at St. John’s.
Dayton forward, Zed Key, who’s from Bay Shore, N.Y., on Long Island had 14 points. He made 3 of 5 field goals and 8 of 10 free throws.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. The Flyers played better defense in the second half: Fordham shot 61.5% (16 of 26) from the field in the first half and 37% (10 of 27) in the second half. Jackie Johnson III, Fordham’s top player, scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half. Josh Rivera scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half.
The game was tied at 48-48 at halftime and 55-55 four minutes into the second half. Dayton took the lead on a layup by Smith with 15 minutes, 52 seconds to play and didn’t trail again.
The Flyers started to build a cushion later in the half, turning a 63-60 lead at the 12:53 mark into a 70-60 lead at the 9:48 mark with a 7-0 run.
“In the first half, I thought they got away from us,” Grant said. “Their guards are really fast. Those guys are really good. They account for about 50% of their productivity offensively, and it showed tonight. And then (Rivera) stepped up. We talked about the need to try to keep the other guys from impacting the game, and (Rivera) did a really good job of impacting the game. But I thought the cumulative effect of the way we played showed — and it showed up late, maybe after the first 30 minutes of the game. But it showed up, and I thought it was effective.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Malachi Smith scored 18 points after tallying a total of seven points in his last three appearances. He’s averaging 9.8 points.
STAT OF THE GAME
Fordham committed 10 turnovers, while Dayton had five, one more than its season low. Dayton outscored Fordham 18-8 in points off turnovers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton plays Duquesne (10-14, 5-6) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Dayton won the first matchup 82-62 at Duquesne on Jan. 21.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Duquesne at Dayton, 2:30 p.m., USA Network, 1290, 95.7
About the Author
