Dayton overcomes NCAA heartbreak to win NIT game for first time in 12 years

Guard Kobe Elvis said teammate Mustapha Amzil sent the first text message informing everyone Dayton was the first team left out of the tournament by the selection committee.

“It was crazy,” Elvis said. “It was heartbreaking.”

Dayton’s consolation prize was the No. 1 overall seed in the National Invitation Tournament, and it played up to that billing Wednesday, beating Toledo 74-55 at Savage Arena in the first round.

Four days after the loss to Richmond, the Flyers played inspired basketball without point guard Malachi Smith, who used crutches to get to and from the court and wore a protective boot on his left ankle. He suffered a sprained ankle on the final play of the first half Saturday.

“That’s unfortunate,” Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II said, “but stuff happens. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

Elvis, who took over the point guard spot in Smith’s absence, credited Smith with bringing positive energy to the team during practice this week and from the bench during the game. While Smith’s status for the second round of the NIT —UD will play Vanderbilt on at 3 p.m. Sunday at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tenn. — and future games should Dayton advance is uncertain, the team wants to keep winning and build for a future that will include Smith.

After missing the NCAA tournament, Dayton “took a step in a different direction,” Elvis said. “We thought, ‘We’ve got to get ready for next year and find a way to gel together. Especially since we’re missing Mali, we’ve got to find a way to get things done without him.’”

Elvis played a big role in this victory. He had 11 points, eight assists and one turnover in 34 minutes.

“I think it was a learning experience for me in an area where I need to grow,” Elvis said. “They need more of that from me. If I can learn to use my voice and get us in the offense, we’re just going to be a whole lot better team.”

Koby Brea replaced Smith in the starting lineup and also produced, tallying 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.

The star of the game, though, was again DaRon Holmes II, who had a career-high 28 points Friday against Massachusetts in the A-10 quarterfinals. He had 20 points on 10-of-16 shooting against the Rockets. He dunked three times.

Dayton shot 52.4% from the field and held Toledo to 34.8% shooting. The Flyers built a 34-23 halftime advantage and led by double digits through the second half.

“I knew they were good, and to be honest with you, they’re better in person than they were on film,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said of Dayton. “They’re physical. They’re long. Every time they needed a bucket, they got a big 3.”

Grant also made the most of his bench throughout the game, giving walk-on guard Christian Wilson more than five minutes of playing time and freshman Kaleb Washington, who had played a total of 35 minutes all season, a season-high 12 minutes. Washington scored five points.

“It’s just a part of what we had to do being a man down without Mali,” Grant said. “Guys got opportunities, and I thought they took advantage of them.”

Dayton (24-10) ended a four-game losing streak in the NIT. It had not won a game since beating North Carolina in the championship game in 2010. This was also Dayton’s first postseason victory of any kind outside the A-10 tournament since it beat Providence in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2015.

Toledo (26-8), the Mid-American Conference regular-season champion, saw its NIT struggles continue. It has lost seven straight first-round games since beating South Alabama in the first round in 2001.

“You’ve got to give Toledo credit,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “They had a great year. I thought our guys understood the challenge today coming on the road and playing a good team. We understood they’ve been really, really good offensively. I thought our guys did a good job of taking away some things that they really had success with and were able to get out in transition. I thought in the second half, we were able to kind of understand where we had advantages and took advantage of them. They made some runs. We made some runs. I’m proud of the effort.”

SUNDAY’S GAME

Dayton at Vanderbilt, 3 p.m., ESPN2, 1290, 95.7