Dayton secures No. 3 seed in A-10 tournament with victory at VCU

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (22-9, 12-6) clinched the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

VCU (25-6, 15-3), which saw a nine-game winning streak end, had already clinched the No. 1 seed. If George Mason wins at Richmond on Saturday, VCU and George Mason will share the regular-season championship.

Dayton avenged a 73-68 loss to VCU at UD Arena on Feb. 7 and won at the Siegel Center for the third time in the last four seasons. The teams have split the regular-season series four years in a row.

Dayton was the only team to beat VCU at home this season. The Rams finished 15-1 in home games.

Star of the game: Javon Bennett led Dayton with 22 points. He made 5 of 10 3-pointers, including a 4-point play in the final minutes.

Stat of the game: Dayton made 9 of 23 3-pointers (39.1%). VCU made 5 of 30 (16.7%).

Turning point: Dayton trailed 60-58 after a 3-pointer by VCU’s Jack Clark with 5 minutes, 5 seconds remaining. Dayton then went on an 8-0 run that was capped by Bennett’s 4-point play at the 3:08 mark. The Flyers stretched their lead to eight points three times before VCU began a desperate comeback.

Late mistakes: Dayton nearly blew an eight-point lead in the final minute. Two turnovers against VCU’s full-court press in the last 20 seconds almost cost Dayton the lead. VCU had a chance to tie the game with 6 seconds to play, but Joe Bamisile made 1 of 2 free throws.

Malachi Smith made 2 of 2 free throws with 5 seconds to play. Then VCU star Max Shulga missed what would have been a game-tying 3 at the buzzer.

Looking ahead: Dayton will get a double bye in the A-10 tournament and start play in the quarterfinals on March 14 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It will play the final quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m.

If the top seeds advance, Dayton would play No. 2 seed George Mason in the semifinals.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton built an early 11-point lead and took a 28-27 advantage into halftime.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Top players: Bennett led Dayton with nine points. He made 3 of 7 3-pointers.

Zeb Jackson scored 13 points for VCU on 4-of-10 shooting. He made 4 of 4 free throws.

Key stat: Dayton made 5 of 15 3s, while VCU made 2 of 15. The Flyers made their first three 3s and then missed five in a row.

Big run: Dayton opened the game with an 11-2 run. Bennett had two 3s during the run, and Enoch Cheeks had one. Amaël L’Etang had a dunk off a pass from Malachi Smith.

Biggest lead: Dayton led 16-5 after a free throw by Jaiun Simon at the 11:45 mark.

Comeback: VCU outscored Dayton 5-0 in the last 90 seconds to cut the deficit to one.

Free throws: VCU outscored Dayton 9-1 at the free-throw line. The Rams made 9 of 13 free throws. Dayton made 1 of 2.

Injury news: VCU guard Phillip Russell, who averages 10.9 points per game and scored 10 points in the first game against Dayton, was sidelined Friday after injuring his ankle Tuesday in a 71-62 victory at Duquesne.

• Dayton forward Isaac Jack did not travel with the team to Richmond. He has missed five straight games since undergoing an appendectomy.