Dayton blows late lead, loses in OT to Saint Joseph’s in A-10 quarterfinals

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Dayton Flyers added another sad chapter to their tortured history in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, falling 73-68 in overtime to Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals on Friday at Capital One Arena.

Dayton led 60-56 with 18 seconds left in the second half after a layup by Malachi Smith. Xzayvier Brown, of Saint Joseph’s made two free throws with 14 seconds to play.

Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 10 seconds remaining and then fouled Brown with six seconds left. Brown made both free throws to tie the game.

Smith dribbled the length of the court after the second made free throw and had a layup attempt blocked at the buzzer.

In overtime, Saint Joseph’s scored the first four points and led the rest of the way.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (22-10) failed to win the A-10 tournament for the 21st straight time. It has not won the championship since 2003.

Dayton lost as the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals to the No. 6 seed for the second straight season. Dayton has lost its first A-10 tournament game four times in coach Anthony Grant’s eight seasons.

Dayton will fail to earn a NCAA tournament bid for the sixth time in Grant’s tenure, if you count the bid it would have received if the 2020 tournament had not been cancelled.

Saint Joseph’s (22-11) avenged a 77-72 loss at UD Arena in January and ended a five-game losing streak in the series. The Hawks will play No. 2 seed George Mason in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Star of the game: Erik Reynolds II led the Hawks with 21 points, and Brown scored 20.

Stat of the game: Saint Joseph’s made 20 of 28 free throws (71.4%). Dayton made 7 of 11 (63.6%).

Comeback: Dayton erased a 15-point deficit to tie the game on a 3-pointer by Amael L’Etang with 8 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.

The Flyers then faced an eight-point deficit with 3:35 to play but went on a 12-0 run to take a 60-56 lead with 18 seconds remaining.

Looking ahead: Saint Joseph’s will play No. 2 seed George Mason in the second semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth will play No. 4 Loyola Chicago in the first semifinal at 1 p.m.

Both semifinal games will air on the CBS Sports Network.

Other scores: VCU beat No. 8 seed St. Bonaventure 76-59 in the first game Friday. Loyola then beat No. 5 Saint Louis 72-64.

Credit: David Jablonski

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and faced a 33-24 halftime deficit.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Top players: Reynolds led Saint Joseph’s with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Javon Bennett and Enoch Cheeks each scored six points for Dayton.

Key stat: Dayton shot 27% (8 of 30) from the field. Saint Joseph’s shot 39% (12 of 31).

Turning point: Dayton led 10-5 at the 15:26 mark after a 3 by Nate Santos. Over the next 10 minutes, it scored four points on two free throws by Amaël L’Etang and a layup by Smith.

With an 18-4 run, Saint Joseph’s took a 23-14 lead at the 5:51 mark.

Biggest lead: The Hawks pushed their advantage to 31-16 at the 2:59 mark. Dayton outscored Saint Joseph’s 8-2 in the last two minutes to cut the halftime deficit to nine points.

Injury news: Isaac Jack was in uniform for Dayton but did not see action in the first half. He missed the last five games after undergoing an appendectomy.