Holmes had a good reason for not joining coach Anthony Grant, Toumani Camara and R.J. Blakney on the podium. He spent close to 30 minutes after the game getting fluids through an IV from longtime Dayton trainer Mike Mulcahey.
By the time Holmes II emerged from the locker room — minutes after teammate Malachi Smith, who also needed an IV after cramping issues — he was feeling much better.
“I don’t know what it was,” Holmes said. “I drank some Gatorade right before I ran out there, and it wasn’t sitting well in my stomach. I was cramping pretty bad. Now I’m feeling great.”
Holmes left the court with his arm around the shoulders of assistant coach Ricardo Greer, who supported him on the walk to the locker room, but he had the energy to hand out high fives to other members of the staff.
Even though he wasn’t feeling 100 percent, Holmes played the best game of his freshman career. He made 12 of 15 field goals and also had five rebounds and three blocks. His 80 percent field-goal percentage was the seventh-best in A-10 tournament history.
“I just try to read what the defense gives us, and they decided to put one defender on me,” Holmes said. “I tried to use it to our team’s advantage and score.”
Holmes put the Flyers on his back on a night when the 3-pointers weren’t falling — Dayton shot 25% (4 of 16 — and carried them to their first semifinal appearance since 2016. No. 2 seed Dayton (23-9) will play No. 6 Richmond at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Richmond beat No. 2 seed Virginia Commonwealth 75-64 in the final quarterfinal of the day
“I”m really excited about tomorrow,” Holmes said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time, and we’ll do what we do.”
Holmes scored eight points in a 55-53 victory at Richmond on March 1. Dayton won that game on a dunk by R.J. Blakney in the final seconds.
This game was the fourth straight decided in the final minute. Dayton lost at La Salle when Koby Brea missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. It then beat Richmond on the road and Davidson at home on a 3-pointer in the final minute by Brea. The Flyers escaped with a victory against UMass in part because of a go-ahead jump shot by Holmes with 51 seconds to play. He backed down the defender in the paint as he did time and time again and scored to give Dayton a 69-68 lead.
The Flyers then clinched the victory at the free-throw line in the final minute.
“It’s mental toughness,” Holmes said. “Making free throws at the end of the game, that’s huge. Those really count. I’m glad I scored and helped the team out.”
Holmes topped his previous career high by seven points. He tallied the highest points total by a Dayton player in the A-10 tournament since at least 2005.
“It was a field day for him,” Dayton forward Toumani Camara said. “He had a great day. He was open. He was making plays. And DaRon is so unselfish. So that’s something we’re not concerned about — why we’re giving him the ball. We know we’re going to have a good look no matter what. I think we just stick to ourselves and stay confident. And I think we did a good job at that.”
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