For the second straight game, the Flyers couldn’t shoot straight in the first half, and for the second straight game, they made more than they missed in the second half. This time, four days after a 67-64 loss to Northwestern in Chicago, the result favored the Flyers. They rallied to beat Vanderbilt 68-63, improving to 8-3 with one game left Friday against Virginia Military Institute before the holiday break.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Miller said. “It was a good win. The first half/second half contrast has been very evident with our basketball team this year. We didn’t have some open ones go in. That was probably the only thing that made the game feel a little bit funny. I was really proud of our defensive effort as well. In the second half, we had some guys step up and make some plays, some shots. We ended up getting a cushion.”
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Dayton shot 28.1 percent in the first half (9 of 32). That was a major improvement over Saturday when the Flyers shot 14.3 percent (4 of 28) and fell behind by as many as 24 points. Dayton didn’t let Vanderbilt take more than a two-point lead. That was the halftime deficit.
The Flyers were 1-3 when trailing at the half, but they had to feel a lot better being down 23-21 than they did Saturday when they trailed 40-17.
“We’ve been in that position before,” senior guard Charles Cooke said. “You’ve just got to come out and pick it up. We played a lot better in the second half, but we wanted to bring that mentality to the first half so we can put together a good 40 minutes.”
Dayton made 5 of 7 shots in the first four minutes of the second half. The Flyers opened the half on an 8-0 run to take a 29-23 lead and never trailed again. They shot 51.9 percent in the second (14 of 27). That’s the same percentage and same field-goal numbers they had against Northwestern.
“Seventeen assists on 23 field goals is the number I’m most proud of,” Miller said. “That shows we learned something from the last game as far as sharing the ball.”
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer
Cooke led the Flyers with 19 points on 5-of-12 shooting. He sank 6 of 6 free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.
Kendall Pollard carried Dayton in the first half when he scored nine of his 13 points. Ryan Mikesell had his first career double-double with a career-high 11 rebounds and 13 points.
Darrell Davis scored eight points. Xeyrius Williams had six. Davis and Williams each hit two 3-pointers. Dayton made 5 of 9 3-pointers in the second half after making 2 of 13 in the first half.
“It’s all about putting two halves together,” Mikesell said. “When you’re not down 17 or 20 points, it’s fun.”
Dayton’s defense played a big part in the victory as well. The Flyers held Vanderbilt to 35.4 percent shooting (23 of 65) from the field and 29 percent shooting (9 of 31) from 3-point range. Vanderbilt was shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point range entering the game, though it has shot below 30 percent in three straight games.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
Matthew Fisher-Davis led the Commodores (6-6) with 25 points. Nolan Cressler scored 11. Luke Kornet, a 7-foot-1 center, made 3 of 12 shots from the field and had eight points and eight rebounds.
“It was a tough matchup inside,” Miller said. “I thought Kendall did a good job early in the game of walling (Kornet) off and not giving him anything. He hurt us early in the game on the offensive glass. We couldn’t get him away from the rim. He’s a good shooter, too. He puts a lot of pressure on you.”
Riley LaChance, the most accurate 3-point shooter in the country entering the game (24 of 36, 66.7 percent), missed all four of his 3-point attempts.
“I thought the job Kyle did on Riley LaChance was very important for this game,” Miller said. “Riley is a terrific 3-point shooter.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
VMI at Dayton, 7 p.m., TWC SportsChannel, FM 95.7, AM 1290 WHIO
About the Author
