“They try to sleep before the games and wait for the games,” Amzil said Wednesday. “I’m really thankful for them, that they try to watch the games.”
The Amzils have not been able to travel to the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Amzil hopes they can visit him next season.
“That’s something I’m looking forward to: playing in front my parents,” he said.
For now, the Flyers continue to play in front of sparse crowds at home and empty arenas on the road. That will be the case again Sunday because they’ll be playing at a neutral site, George Mason’s EagleBank Arena. There also were no fans at Dayton’s first two A-10 road games against Fordham and Davidson.
George Washington and Dayton announced Tuesday they would play in Fairfax, Va., instead of Washington, D.C. George Washington’s Charles E. Smith Center is less than a mile from the White House and three blocks from the Lincoln Memorial.
Neither GW or UD gave an explanation for the decision in their announcements, though it was obvious the events of Jan. 6 at the United States Capitol in Washington and the threat of more violence days before Joe Biden’s inauguration caused them to make the switch.
“In light of everything that’s going on across the country with the events of last week from a political standpoint,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said Wednesday, “my main concern is just making sure we do everything we can to keep our guys as safe as possible. I think it was a wise move. We’ll see what the next few days bring, and hopefully, we can get there and proceed to have a safe and uneventful competition.”
Dayton (7-3, 3-2) continues a stretch of eight games against teams picked to finish among the bottom eight teams in the 14-team conference. That doesn’t end until Jan. 26 when it’s scheduled to play Saint Louis, which was picked to finish second, though Saint Louis has yet to play an A-10 game because of COVID-19 issues and it’s still unclear when it will return to action.
Dayton’s schedule turns much tougher in February and March. That’s why it needs to beat George Washington on Sunday and again on Wednesday when the Colonials play at UD Arena.
Although George Washington (3-8, 2-2) has struggled, it has lost only one game by double digits. Like Dayton, it has dealt with a changing rotation.
Jameer Nelson Jr. and Maceo Jack, who each averaged more than 20 minutes per game, left the program earlier this month. Jack transferred to Buffalo. Another player, Ace Stallings, a little-used reserve, also departed.
While transfers have hurt George Washington’s depth, the roster has also benefitted from transfers. James Bishop, the A-10′s leading scorer (20.2 points per game), played last season at LSU. Two other starters, Ricky Lindo (Maryland) and Matt Moyer (Vanderbilt), are transfers.
The transfers are one reason George Washington has such a different look from last March it lost 76-51 to Dayton on Senior Night at UD Arena in what would turn out to be the last game of Dayton’s 29-2 season. Only one player who saw action in that game played Wednesday in GW’s 84-77 loss at home to Virginia Commonwealth: sophomore guard Chase Paar. Sophomore forward Jamison Battle, another starter in that game at UD last season, missed the VCU game with a concussion.
That group runs into a Dayton roster that has built momentum since early losses to La Salle and Fordham with victories against Davidson and Duquesne. The Flyers have topped 70 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season and played a season-high nine scholarship players Wednesday in a 72-63 victory against Duquesne.
“We have been able to translate what we do in practice to what we do in games,” Amzil said. “The chemistry is building. I think we can do great things with this team.”
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