Here’s a quick recap of the game:
What it means: With two games remaining in the regular season, Dayton (20-9, 10-6) is tied for third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with three teams:
• Saint Joseph’s (19-10, 10-6), which beat Fordham 90-76 on Saturday in the Bronx, N.Y.
• Saint Louis (17-12, 10-6), which beat Loyola Chicago 98-67 in St. Louis.
• And Loyola Chicago (19-10, 10-6), which saw a five-game winning streak end.
Virginia Commonwealth (24-5, 14-2) sits alone in first place after George Mason (22-7, 13-3) lost 85-68 at Duquesne on Saturday.
Richmond (10-20, 5-12) will be in either 13th place or 14th place at the end of the day, depending on the result of La Salle’s game George Washington game. The Spiders lost their seventh straight game at UD Arena, where they haven’t won since 2011.
Dayton won its 14th straight game on Senior Day. This was its second straight overtime game on Senior Day. It beat VCU 91-86 in one overtime last season. This was Dayton’s first double-overtime game at home since it beat New Mexico in 2011.
Stars of the game: Enoch Cheeks and Nate Santos each scored 18 points for Dayton.
Stat of the game: Dayton outscored Richmond 23-11 at the free-throw line. The Flyers made 23 of 33, while Richmond made 11 of 15. Cheeks made 11 of 14.
Key plays: Zed Key made two free throws with 41 seconds to play in the second half to tie the game.
Malachi Smith missed a shot at the buzzer in the second half, and the game went to overtime tied at 48.
• In the first overtime, Smith made a game-tying 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining. Then Richmond’s Dusan Neskovic dunked with seven seconds to play. Santos took the ball the other way and scored at the buzzer.
• In the second overtime, Santos made two free throws with 3 minutes, 35 seconds to play to give Dayton the lead for good. A layup by Smith with 2:10 to play and two free throws with 1:31 to play capped a 6-0 run that put Dayton in control for good.
Second-half drought: Dayton led 37-30 after a 3 by Santos with 13:45 to play. It then scored four points in the next eight minutes.
Blocks record: Key tied a school record by blocking six shots.
History lesson: This was UD’s first double-overtime game at UD Arena since Jan. 1, 2011, when it beat New Mexico 76-63.
Dayton’s last four double-overtime games took place away from home: a 91-89 loss at Rhode Island in 2021; an 85-82 victory against Mississippi State in Atlanta in 2020; an 89-86 victory at St. Bonaventure in 2019; and an 86-82 loss at Massachusetts in 2018.
Senior Day: Before the game, UD honored Brady Uhl, Cheeks, Key Posh Alexander, Santos and Smith as well as four senior student managers: John Hannan, of Cleveland; Jackson Conroy, of Philadelphia; Liam Armstrong, of Dayton; and Ayden Johnson, of Centerville.
Looking ahead: Dayton plays Saint Louis (16-12, 9-6) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena. Dayton won the first matchup 71-63 at Saint Louis on Jan. 31.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
HALFTIME RECAP
Richmond led Dayton for the last 15 minutes of the first half and took a 26-24 lead into halftime
Dayton has trailed at halftime in three straight home games. It trailed Virginia Commonwealth 31-28 and lost 73-68 on Feb. 7. It trailed Duquesne 44-40 at halftime and won 77-76 on Feb. 15.
Here’s a quick recap of the first half:
Top players: Richmond’s Dusan Neskovic led all scorers with eight points on 2-of-5 shooting. He made 3 of 4 free throws.
Santos and Smith each scored five points for Dayton.
Key stat: Each team made four 2-point field goals and five 3-pointers. Richmond made 3 of 4 free throws, while Dayton made 1 of 5, all shot by Amaël L’Etang.
Big run: Dayton led 6-4 after a 3-pointer by Enoch Cheeks with 17 minutes, 20 seconds left in the half. Richmond outscored Dayton 8-0 in the next three-plus minutes, taking a 12-6 lead on a 3 by Neskovic at the 13:49 mark.
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