Dayton’s Devin Oliver missed a 3-pointer with four seconds left, leaving the Flyers with a 70-67 defeat when a victory would have all but sealed their NCAA tournament fate. Now they play the waiting game, hoping all they did in the first 32 games will get them into the big dance for the first time since 2009 when the bracket is announced Sunday evening.
Forty eight hours will last an eternity as the Flyers (23-10) ponder a play forever to be known as The Push.
“It could have gone both ways,” Dayton forward Dyshawn Pierre said. “We thought it was a push-off. At the end of the day, that’s a really good team. That’s a really good shot. It’s a tough shot.”
Dayton coach Archie Miller paused before offering a politically-correct take.
“It could go either way,” he said. “The referees did a good job. It was a well-officiated game. We had a great crew on the game. If you ask me what did I see, I felt like he got some space. Now is every referee going to call that call with that much on the line? Probably not. Let the kids finish it out.”
Galloway, who hit plenty of other shots on his way to 31 points, pleaded innocent. For what it’s worth, he was later convicted in the court of Twitter as clips and screen grabs of the push-off circulated and it became obvious this was no mere love tap.
“Langston, do you think you pushed off?” someone asked in the postgame press conference. “Did you extend your left hand and make it an advantage?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Galloway said. “I think the whole night they were letting us play. Everyone was just trying to be physical and trying to make plays. That’s what happened on that last play.”
Galloway’s shot took away Dayton senior Matt Kavanaugh’s hero status. His jump shot from the baseline with 39 seconds left gave Dayton its first lead in more than 11 minutes and punctuated a 7-0 run that began after the Hawks stretched their lead to 66-60 with 4:32 left.
Kavanaugh scored 10 points. Pierre led the Flyers with 11. Jordan Sibert also had 10. Oliver and Vee Sanford each scored nine.
This was a well-played game from start to finish. The teams combined for 13 turnovers. Neither led by more than six, and there were 16 lead changes.
“Both teams really battled and competed,” Miller said. “From our standpoint, we had enough in the tank to get the job done. We probably shot ourselves in the foot just one too many times at some critical times.”
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