Brea’s contributions at point guard key for Dayton

“Great job,” Grant told the players. “I’ll just say this, guys: hell of a day, man. I watched my son (Preston) graduate from college. I appreciate you guys allowing me to do that and you guys taking care of business with what you had to do here and allowing me to be able to share that with my family. That was huge today. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. That was really huge. Okay. And then we get to come out here and dominate in front of thousands of Flyer Faithful here in Chicago. Hell of day, man. I’m a happy man.”

Grant, who traveled to Chicago separately from the team after seeing his son graduate from UD on Saturday morning, coached the game steps from a former teammate, Sedric Toney. They played together in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons, Toney’s last two seasons in college and Grant’s first two seasons.

“It was such a blessing to be here,” Toney said. “It was great to see them win. It was a good atmosphere, and the Flyer fans travel deep. I forgot how deep they travel. And that’s always like the sixth man. You need that sometimes when you’re on the road. You need that extra push. I think they helped tonight.”

Toney, who ranks 87th in school history with 722 points, sat next the program’s 17th-leading scorer Johnny Davis (1,562 points). Both players were honored at halfcourt during the game, which was part of the Legends of Basketball Showcase.

Davis is the chairman of the board of the NBA Retired Players Association, which sponsored the event. Davis said Dayton played hard and well and kept its poise when Wyoming trimmed a 14-point halftime deficit to two points early in the second half.

Dayton improved to 7-5 entering its final non-conference game of the regular season at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Alcorn State (3-8) at UD Arena. Dayton’s overall performance in non-conference play has been a disappointment, but it took a step forward by beating Wyoming.

“Sometimes you go through a lull,” Davis said, “but (Grant) has proven what he can do. I think he has the attention of this team. They’re going to be fine. They’ve weathered it now, and they’re coming out of it and starting to really put it together. They’ve got some injuries to a couple key guys. He’s made the right adjustments to kind of keep the thing going. Hopefully, when those guys get back, they’ll hit their stride and take off.”

Dayton is 4-1 since losing guards Kobe Elvis and Malachi Smith to injuries on Nov. 25 in the final minutes of a 79-75 overtime loss to Brigham Young. In their absence, Mike Sharavjamts has played point guard, though Koby Brea handled the majority of the minutes at that position Saturday with Sharavjamts in foul trouble in the first half.

Brea also replaced Sharavjamts when Wyoming opened the second half with a 12-2 run. Brea played point guard for the next 11 minutes. Dayton pushed its lead to 57-46 before Sharavjamts returned to the game.

Brea finished with 10 points, four assists and one turnover in 28 minutes. His playing time has increased in each of the last five games after he appeared in one of the first seven games because of an injury and then an illness.

“I thought he really did a great job,” Grant said, “and I think it’s a testament to his work ethic, his basketball IQ and his toughness because, to be honest, he hadn’t gotten a whole lot of reps in terms of being able to run offense at that position. Most of his reps have been off the ball. We’ve been able to get him a few, but what he did tonight was really impressive.”

Brea said he’s trying to do the best he can in the new role and the more playing time he gets there the more comfortable he will become. He also expects shooting guard to still be his main position throughout the season because he knows the point is Sharavjamts’ job and when Elvis and Smith return, there will be even less need for him to help there.

For now, though, Brea’s changing role is one of the adjustments Dayton has made to get through this time without a full roster. He’s gaining confidence with each game. The team gained some steam as well with its first victory away from home this season.

“Moving forward, this was definitely a game that was necessary for us,” Brea said.

TUESDAY’S GAME

Alcorn State at Dayton, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, ESPN+, 1290, 95.7