Dayton escapes with victory against Duquesne after wild finish at UD Arena

Dayton led 76-71 after two free throws by Zed Key with 20 seconds remaining. Duquesne’s Tre Dinkins then made a 3-pointer with 13 seconds to play.

After the basket by Dinkin’s, Dayton’s Malachi Smith caught the in-bounds pass but was trapped by two defenders under the basket. He turned the ball over, and Duquesne’s Cam Crawford tied the game on a layup with seven seconds to play.

Smith got the in-bounds pass again, and this time, he was fouled by Crawford with six seconds to play. It appeared to be an intentional foul, as if Crawford didn’t know the game was tied and wanted to stop the clock.

Smith made 1 of 2 free throws to give Dayton the 77-76 lead. Dinkins then missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (18-8, 8-5) completed a 2-0 week with victories against Fordham and Duquesne. The Flyers sit alone in third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference. They’re four games behind George Mason (21-5, 12-1) and three behind Virginia Commonwealth (20-5, 10-2).

Dayton is a half game ahead of Loyola Chicago (16-9, 7-5). The Flyers play at Loyola in their next game on Friday.

Dayton completed a regular-season sweep of Duquesne (10-15, 5-7) for the second straight season. Dayton won the first game 82-62 on Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh.

Star of the game: Enoch Cheeks led Dayton with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He made 8 of 10 free throws.

Stat of the game: Dayton scored 23 points off 14 Duquesne turnovers, while Duquesne scored six points off 10 Dayton turnovers.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Loyola Chicago (16-9, 7-5) at 7 p.m. Friday at Joseph J. Gentile Arena. The Flyers won the first matchup 83-81 in overtime on Jan. 18 at UD Arena.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton outscored Duquesne 6-2 in the final minute to cut what had been a 12-point deficit to 44-40 at halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Matus Hronsky led Duquesne with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting. He made 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Enoch Cheeks led Dayton with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting. He made 5 of 6 free throws, including 4 of 4 in the final seconds of the half.

Key stat: Duquesne made 7 of 13 3-pointers (53.8%). Dayton made 3 of 10 (30%).

In the first game between the teams on Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh, Dayton shot 69.2% (9 of 12) from 3-point range in the first half, building a 44-25 lead. Dayton won that game 82-62.

Big run: Duquesne turned a 23-22 lead into a 35-23 lead with a 12-1 run from the 9:29 mark to the 6:27 mark. Dayton’s Jacob Conner ended the run with five straight points.

Dayton twice cut the deficit to four points. A dunk by Zed Key after an offensive rebound with seven seconds left led to the four-point halftime margin.

First-half defense: This was the second straight game Dayton allowed its opponent to put up a big first-half score. On Wednesday, Dayton and Fordham were tied at 48-48 at halftime. Fordham shot 61.5% (16 of 26) from the field in the first half.