Dayton earns gritty victory at VCU to keep regular-season title hopes alive

Dayton beat Virginia Commonwealth 62-58 at the Siegel Center to avenge a 63-62 loss to VCU at UD Arena on Jan. 13.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (16-9, 8-4) ended a three-game road losing streak and moved within a game of VCU (18-7, 9-3) with six games to play. The Flyers won at VCU for the second straight season. They beat the Rams 82-52 at the Siegel Center a year ago.

Saint Louis (16-8, 8-3), which Dayton plays on Friday at UD Arena, moved within a half game of VCU by beating Rhode Island 76-71 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on Tuesday.

Star of the game: Toumani Camara followed up his 27-point performance against VCU in the first game with 26 points in this game. He sealed the victory by making 1 of 2 free throws with eight seconds to play, giving Dayton a four-point lead.

Stat of the game: VCU shot 50% (10 of 20) from the free-throw line and 21.1% (4 of 19) from 3-point range. VCU missed all nine of its 3-point attempts in the second half.

Key play: Dayton blew a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds in the first game against VCU and nearly suffered another late meltdown. It committed four turnovers in the last 90 seconds.

Key sequence: Dayton trailed 47-46 with 10 minutes to play and then began a 9-0 run in the next four minutes to take a 55-47 lead. It led the rest of the game.

Foul trouble: Dayton did not make a substitution in the final 10 minutes until DaRon Holmes II fouled out in the final minute and was replaced by Zimi Nwokeji. Mike Sharavjamts fouled out halfway through the second half. R.J Blakney and Malachi Smith were on the bench and out with injuries.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton overcame an early 11-point deficit to build a 36-32 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Dayton’s Toumani Camara scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting. He made 3 of 5 free throws. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Key stat: The Flyers outscored VCU 7-2 at the free-throw line. VCU missed the front end of three 1-and-1s.

Big run: Dayton trailed 17-6 at the 13:05 mark after a 3-pointer by Zeb Jackson. Dayton’s Koby Brea then scored six straight points, making a 3-pointer and then three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. Baskets by Zimi Nwokeji and Toumani Camara capped a 10-0 run.

Turning point: Dayton fell behind again, 25-20, when it started a 16-4 run to take a 36-29 lead on a basket by Camara with 1:16 to play. VCU cut into the deficit with a 3-pointer by Jamir Watkins with 18 seconds to play.

Injury news: Malachi Smith will not play in this game after injuring his ankle Saturday at St. Bonaventure. R.J. Blakney, who missed two of the last four games, did see action in the first half but limped off the court at one point. He returned only to limp to the bench again.

Foul trouble: Mike Sharavjamts picked up two early fouls and then a third foul late in the half. He was limited to eight minutes.