Dayton rests three players to get extended look at others in victory against Capital

“I knew that question was coming,” Grant said.

“I know what your answer will be, too,” the reporter said.

“That’s a tough one,” Grant said.

As expected, Grant did not recall his first basket, but a quick check of the box score from Dec. 4, 1983, edition of the Dayton Daily News shows Grant made 2 of 4 field goals and scored four points in his first game.

Dayton beat Northeast Louisiana 80-78 to open a season that would end in the Elite Eight. The freshman from Miami, Fla., provided a valuable contribution off the bench, while the team’s biggest offensive threats, Roosevelt Chapman and Ed Young, each scored 23 points.

Makai, a walk-on sophomore guard, scored his first points Saturday on a reverse layup in the final minutes of a 76-55 victory against Capital University, a Division III program from Bexley on the east side of Columbus. Dayton played its four walk-ons plus forward Jaiun Simon in the last 2 minutes, 38 seconds to put the finishing touches on a game most everyone knew Dayton would win from the start.

The coaches were confident enough in victory that they rested two starters, Zed Key and Enoch Cheeks, plus the team’s top reserve, Posh Alexander. All three are fifth-year players, though Grant said that wasn’t the common denominator.

“I thought tonight it was great to be able to get some different guys on the floor,” Grant said, “and to be able to get some guys some game experience and to be able to teach off of what we were able to do tonight.”

Grant greeted longtime Capital coach Damon Goodwin, his former UD teammate, with a hug before the game. This game counted on Dayton’s record, though it won’t affect its standing in the various metrics used by the NCAA tournament selection committee, but was an exhibition game for Capital.

“I thought Damon did a great job of having this team prepared,” Grant said. “Obviously, they’re an extremely well-coached team. They tested us in some areas that we needed to see. We were able to get different combinations on the floor tonight, which was good. For me, it’s all about just continuing to grow and trying to build our depth and figure out the group that we have. We were able to get some guys rest tonight, which was good as well as we prepare for next week and one more home game before we head out to Maui.”

Dayton improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season when it started 5-0 before losing to Kansas in the Maui Invitational championship game. It also started 4-0 in the 2018-19 season before losing to Virginia in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Dayton also won its 20th straight home game. That’s tied for the fourth-longest home winning streak in school history. The Flyers won 30 home games in a row from March 2008 to January 2010, 27 in a row from February 2014 to December 2016, 21 in a row from December 1959 to January 1961 and 20 in a row from January 1964 to February 1966.

Grant spread the minutes among nine players before putting the walk-ons in the game. Javon Bennett, who led Dayton with 16 points, saw the most action of the starters, just short of 28 minutes.

“We approached it like we did any game,” Bennett said. “We obviously know they’re a D-III team. But we played how we normally play against a D-I team. We kind of saw it as a way to prepare ourselves for what lies ahead.”

Freshman guard/forward Hamad Mousa played 30 minutes, 12 more than he tallied in the first three games. He scored nine points by making 2 of 5 field goals and 5 of 7 free throws.

Freshman forward Amaël L’Etang played a season-high 17 minutes and had 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 10 rebounds. He had five points and six rebounds total in the first three games.

Brady Uhl, who made his season debut after being sidelined by a sprained ankle, and Jaiun Simon, 13 minutes each, got extended playing time as well.

Dayton led from start to finish for the second straight game and shot better if not great from the 3-point line (8 of 23, 34.8%) while struggling at the free-throw line (12 of 24). Grant didn’t like the defensive performance in the second half when Capital made 7 of 19 3-pointers.

“They made nine baskets in the second half, and seven of them were 3s,” he said. “A lot of them were off of bad help, where we just sunk and gave too much help on dribble penetration when we had it under control, and they were able to capitalize on that. So we’ll be able to teach off of that.”

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

New Mexico State at Dayton, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, ESPN+, 1290, 95.7