St. Bonaventure beats Dayton for first time in seven years

Flyers lose their third straight road game
Dayton's Kobe Elvis and St. Bonaventure's Kyrell Luc compete for a ball on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Reilly Center in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. David Jablonski/Staff

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Dayton's Kobe Elvis and St. Bonaventure's Kyrell Luc compete for a ball on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the Reilly Center in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. David Jablonski/Staff

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The Dayton Flyers lost at the Reilly Center for the first time in 11 years, falling 68-59 to St. Bonaventure on Saturday.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (15-9, 7-4) slipped from third place to a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with seven games to play. St. Bonaventure (13-11, 7-4) moved into a tie with Dayton with its third straight victory. They trail VCU (9-2), Saint Louis (7-3) and Fordham (6-3).

The Bonnies ended a seven-game losing streak in the series. They last beat Dayton at UD Arena in February 2016. They beat Dayton in St. Bonaventure for the first time since January 2012.

Star of the game: Forward Chad Venning led the Bonnies with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. All five St. Bonaventure starters scored in double figures.

Stat of the game: The Bonnies made 9 of 24 3-pointers, while Dayton made 4 of 20.

Injury news: Dayton point guard Malachi Smith appeared to injure his left ankle late in the second half. He ended the game with the ankle elevated on a stool at the end of the bench. He suffered the injury while competing for a loose ball in a pile of players.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays first-place Virginia Commonwealth (18-6, 9-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Va. VCU won two straight games on the road, 61-59 against Davidson on Tuesday and 73-65 against Saint Louis on Friday, after losing 61-58 at home to St. Bonaventure on Jan. 28. VCU beat Dayton 63-62 at UD Arena on Jan. 13.

FIRST-HALF RECAP

St. Bonaventure outscored Dayton Flyers 20-6 in the final 10 minutes of the first half to build a 33-26 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Venning, who averages 11.6 points per game game, scored 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting for St. Bonaventure.

Key stat: Dayton made 2 of 9 3-pointers and 8 of 22 2-point shots. It missed its last five shots in the last four minutes.

Turning point: Dayton led 20-13 after a jump shot by Kobe Elvis at the 10:53 mark. Dayton didn’t make another field goal until a dunk by DaRon Holmes at the 6:13 mark. Holmes and Toumani Camara led Dayton with eight points each in the half.

Lineup news: R.J. Blakney was unavailable Saturday. He has missed two of the last four games. Mustapha Amzil replaced Blakney in the starting lineup.

Around the A10: Davidson (11-12, 4-7) won 93-78 at Massachusetts (13-10, 4-7) on Saturday.

• Duquesne (15-8, 5-5) rode a 50-20 halftime lead to 93-67 victory at George Washington (11-12, 5-5), which has lost three games in a row after winning three games in a row.

• Loyola Chicago (8-14, 2-8) won 69-61 at home against George Mason (13-11, 5-6).

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