“Oliver for 3,” the Comcast Sports announcer said. “Got it! Off the window and in!”
This was no mere 3-pointer. If it had been a Harlem Globetrotters game, Oliver might have earned four points. The senior forward from Kalamazoo, Mich., was about 5 feet behind the line.
“After I shot it, I called (bank shot),” Oliver said, “but not initially. I didn’t care if it hit the rim 17 times and went it.”
“It was the prettiest bank shot I’ve ever seen,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said.
Had he shot an airball or fired the shot into the Ole Miss student section behind the basket, this would still have been the best performance by a Flyer this season. He hit 11-of-14 shots, scored 26 points, had seven rebounds, five assists and no turnovers.
Of course, years from now, everyone will only remember the last shot, just as most people might forget all of the season-opening game against IPFW, except for the last-second 3 to win the game by Jordan Sibert.
Just like that game, a turnover set the Flyers up for the final shot. This time, the Flyers got the ball with 5 seconds left after Ole Miss was called for an illegal screen — Khari Price took a hard shot from Sebastian Saiz on that screen — while trying to set up for the final shot.
Dayton drew up a play for Vee Sanford, who missed what would have been a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in the second half.
“Vee was supposed to come off of me and (Matt) Kavanaugh setting a screen and get it and go down and try to make a play,” Oliver said. “Vee got caught going the other way. Heat of the moment, I guess. I saw Dyshawn (Pierre) was kind of stuck. I ran back and got the ball.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Oliver split two defenders as he crossed half court. The ball left his hands with 2.1 seconds remaining.
“I probably could have gotten to the basket,” Oliver said. “I felt the pull-up was the shot.”
Oliver bounced back down the court as Ole Miss in-bounded the ball with 0.3 seconds. Martavious Newby got off a shot from about three-quarters court, but it was off the mark. It would have counted.
“The thing that’s disheartening,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said, “is the last two possessions, we didn’t get a shot.”
When the buzzer sounded, the celebration ensued. Price grabbed Oliver first, and then the rest of the Flyers mobbed him and rejoiced in a victory that gives them a 12-3 record heading into Atlantic 10 play. Judging by the Pomeroy ratings, this was Dayton’s third-best win of the season. Ole Miss is ranked 78th. Gonzaga is 18th. California is 45th. The Flyers are 42nd.
This was redemption for Oliver, who missed a shot in the final seconds against Southern California on Dec. 22 and left enough time on the clock for USC’s Pe’Shon Howard to hit the game-winning 3-pointer.
“I’ve seen a lot of them at the end not go in for us,” Miller said, “so we’ll take that and obviously we’ll feel good about it. I’m just happy we competed. We did fight. We’ve got a great group of guys that compete and battle.”
Of course, even before the shot fell, this was a great game. It featured 12 lead changes and 12 ties. Dayton’s biggest lead was six points. Ole Miss once had a five-point lead. Neither of those leads lasted for long.
The Flyers (12-3) trailed 80-76 with one minute left in overtime. A jumper by Pierre cut the deficit to two with 55 seconds left.
A turnover by Ole Miss led to the next Dayton basket. Sanford took the ball the other way and missed a layup in traffic. He drew three Ole Miss defenders with him, however, and that left Kyle Davis open to grab the rebound and score on a putback, tying the game with 26 seconds left. It was the only shot and basket of the night for the freshman Davis, who played some important stints late in the game guarding Ole Miss star Marshall Henderson.
Henderson hit 3-of-9 shots and scored 15 points. He didn’t score at all for the first 21 minutes. Mostly, it was Jordan Sibert and Sanford on him then. While Dayton limited Henderson, the Rebel’s second-leading scorer, Jarvis Summers, scored 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
“Our attention was really centered on Marshall Henderson,” Miller said. “Eliminate the 3. We gave up some baskets due to that, which we knew was going to happen. I thought Jarvis Summers was as good a guard as we’ve guarded all season. To our kids’ credit, when we needed a shot, we found a way.”
A back-and-forth, thrilling second half featured big plays all over the place. Dayton had its biggest lead, 51-45, with 13 minutes left. Ole Miss had a 61-56 lead with eight minutes to play, but Oliver scored five straight points on back-to-back possessions to tie it with 7:09 left.
Henderson stole a pass and hit a 3-pointer with 3:20 left. Again Oliver responded with a 3-pointer on Dayton’s next possession, tying the game with 2:55 to go.
Oliver scored Dayton’s last basket of the second half with 2:06 to play, a wide-open layup off an assist by Sanford. Summers tied the game moments later. Neither team scored in the last 1:50. Oliver forced a jump ball on a shot by Summers with 29 seconds left. Then Sanford missed a 3-pointer at the second-half buzzer.
Dayton trailed 31-28 at halftime. Free throws were the big difference in the first half and, really, throughout the game. Ole Miss scored 10 of its first 17 points at the line and finished 28-of-36.
The Flyers were 8-of-18 at the line until Pierre hit two free throws with 2:12 left in overtime. They shot exactly 50 percent for the third straight game.
Pierre and Scoochie Smith each had 11 points for Dayton. Smith hit 3-of-5 3-pointers.
Matt Kavanaugh and Sanford each scored 10. Kavanaugh played 31 minutes and hit 5-of-7 shots. It was another strong game for the senior from Centerville, who just a couple of weeks ago was languishing on the bench.
Dayton shot 58 percent from the field in the second half and 48 percent in the game. The Flyers had 20 assists.
“Twenty assists on 31 made field goals is phenomenal,” Kennedy said. “”Their ball movement was as good as I’ve seen in this building since Florida two years ago.”
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