Dayton still in hunt for A-10 championship with four games remaining

Five days later at Saint Joseph’s, Blakney’s teammate, Toumani Camara, put his name in the discussion for most authoritative dunk of the year, cutting to the basket and catching a bounce pass from Malachi Smith before slamming against Hawks forward Ejike Obinna.

Camara confirmed it was his best dunk of the season.

“Toumani’s dunk was nasty,” Holmes said after the game.

Those were two winning plays among many last week as Dayton beat Rhode Island 63-57 on Monday and Saint Joseph’s 74-62 on Saturday to stretch its winning streak to four games with four games to play in the regular season.

As the debate continues about Dayton’s NCAA tournament at-large hopes, the Flyers have put themselves in position to win at least a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship by winning their last four conference games. They also are in good shape to earn one of the top-four seeds in the A-10 tournament. That would improve their chances of winning the tournament and the A-10′s automatic NCAA bid.

Here’s a breakdown of the five teams competing for the top four seeds:

1. Davidson: 22-4 overall, 12-2 in A-10.

NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking: 50.

Ken Pomeroy rating: 56.

Remaining schedule: The Wildcats should coast through their next three games: at Duquesne (6-19, 1-12) on Wednesday; at home against Fordham (12-13, 5-8) on Saturday; and at home against George Mason (13-12, 6-6) on March 2. They then close the regular season against the Dayton Flyers at 12:30 p.m., March 5, at UD Arena, where they are 0-3 since joining the A-10 in the 2014-15 season.

Summary: Davidson, picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, has exceeded expectations with its best regular season since joining the A-10. It should make the NCAA tournament even if it doesn’t win the A-10 tournament, and at this point, no other team can say that. Davidson has the best one-two-three scoring punch in the league with Foster Loyer (16.5 points per game), Hyunjung Lee (16.3) and Luke Brajkovic (15.0). The Wildcats played one of their best games of the season Saturday with Loyer sidelined by an ankle injury, tying a season high by making 14 of 24 3-pointers and routing Saint Louis 79-58 at Davidson.

2. Dayton: 19-8, 11-3.

NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking: 52.

Ken Pomeroy rating: 47.

Remaining schedule: The Flyers are favored by KenPom.com in each of their remaining four games. They play Massachusetts (12-13, 5-8) at 7 p.m. Wednesday and then return to Philadelphia for the second straight Saturday for a 2 p.m. game at La Salle (7-17, 2-12). In the last week of the regular season, Dayton plays at Richmond (17-10, 8-6) at 6:30 p.m. March 1 and then at home against Davidson on Senior Day, though the only senior player honored will be walk-ons Christian Wilson and Drew Swerlein.

Summary: If not for three straight losses to UMass Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay at UD Arena in November, Dayton would be in a strong position to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time in five years. That they still have a chance to climb into the at-large picture shows just how remarkable their turnaround has been. In his latest bracket update Sunday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed Dayton as the fifth team out of the tournament. Mike DeCourcy, of the Sporting News, listed Dayton as the seventh team out of the tournament on Friday.

3. Virginia Commonwealth: 18-7, 11-3.

NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking: 58.

Ken Pomeroy rating: 70.

Remaining schedule: The Rams play at home against George Mason on Wednesday and then at UMass on Saturday. Next week, they have a home game against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday and then close the regular season at Saint Louis on March 5.

Summary: VCU has won five straight games since losing 82-52 at home to Dayton on Feb. 2. They didn’t have leading scorer Vince Williams (13.2 points per game) in that game, and he missed the next game against Duquesne. In the last three games, he has averaged 18 points per game. The Rams routed crosstown rival Richmond 77-57 on Saturday for their most lopsided victory since January.

4. St. Bonaventure: 17-7, 9-4.

NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking: 85.

Ken Pomeroy rating: 86.

Remaining schedule: The Bonnies play Rhode Island at home Tuesday and then go on the road to play Saint Joseph’s on Saturday and VCU on March 1. They close the regular season at home against Richmond on March 4.

Summary: This has been a disappointing season for a team that started the season in the top 25, but there’s still hope for the Bonnies, the defending A-10 regular-season and tournament champions and the only A-10 team that got to play in the NCAA tournament last season because VCU was eliminated by a COVID-19 outbreak. St. Bonaventure has won five games in a row. That streak includes back-to-back victories against Saint Louis. As their rankings show, their only hope of returning to the big dance is winning the A-10 tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

5. Saint Louis: 18-9, 9-5.

NCAA Evaluation Tool ranking: 59.

Ken Pomeroy rating: 59.

Remaining schedule: The Billikens play Saint Joseph’s at home Tuesday and then go on the road to play Richmond on Friday. Next week, they play at Rhode Island on March 2 and then close the regular season at home against VCU on March 5.

Summary: After winning six games in a row, a streak that included a 72-61 victory against Dayton at Chaifetz Arena, Saint Louis has lost three of its last four games. Its 21-point loss at Davidson on Saturday was its most lopsided loss of the season.

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

UMass at Dayton, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, 1290, 95.7