Dayton loses point guard, then loses lead in A-10 semifinal loss to Richmond

Toumani Camara scored 17 points and DaRon Holmes II added 15 for Dayton (23-10).

The Flyers led by as many as 15 (42-27) in the second half and led 52-39 on a Holmes layup with 12:04 to play. Richmond (22-12) outscored Dayton 29-12 the rest of the way.

Dayton played the second half without point guard Malachi Smith, who suffered an injury on the last play of the first half.

Kobe Elvis ran the point guard position in Smith’s absence. Smith returned to the bench on crutches with his ankle wrapped and elevated but later returned to the locker room.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

FIRST HALF

The Dayton Flyers made 3 of 8 3-pointers, while Richmond missed all eight of its attempts in the first half Saturday in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament.

Dayton led by as many as 10 points and built a 33-25 halftime lead. Toumani Camara scored eight points. Three other Dayton players — DaRon Holmes II, Malachi Smith and Koby Brea — each had seven.

Smith appeared to suffer an injury on the final play of the half and limped across the court before being helped to the locker room by trainer Mike Mulcahey. He kept his left foot in the air as they walked.

Dayton opened the game with a 9-2 run and led the entire half. It had a 31-21 lead at the 3:54 mark after five straight points by Brea and again pushed the lead to 10 at the 1:25 mark on a layup by Holmes.

Richmond shot 36% percent from the field (10 of 28), while Dayton shot 52% (14 of 27).

Grant Golden scored nine points for Richmond. Jacob Gilyard, who scored a career-high 32 points and made seven 3-pointers Friday in a victory against Virginia Commonwealth, did not score in the half and missed all four of his 3-point attempts.