Or maybe not. Does anyone remember a 77-75 loss to Athletes in Action in 1994? Or a 79-77 loss to the Newcastle Falcons, a select team from Australia, in 1996?
Dayton hasn’t lost an exhibition game in recent memory, except to fellow Division I teams (Ohio State last season and Xavier this year), and it didn’t lose Saturday despite a lackadaisical performance. The Flyers beat Ashland University 65-56 at UD Arena in their final tune-up before the 2024-25 regular-season opener against St. Francis University (Pa.) on Nov. 4.
“Today we did not play to the identity that this team is going to need to play to, especially from an offensive standpoint as we prepare for the regular season,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I always call these games rubber-bullet games. It gives us a chance to play some outside competition and figure some things out as a team. Today I felt like we didn’t do the things that we’ve tried to do and we tried to work on over the last 23 or 24 practices that we’ve had over the last few months. I think it’s an opportunity for our team to be able to look in the mirror and see where we need to continue to grow.”
This was Dayton’s first single-digit victory against a lower-division team in an exhibition game since it rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Findlay 76-69 before the 2016-17 season. Prior to this game, the closest exhibition game Dayton played in coach Grant’s tenure came in the 2018-19 season when it beat Capital University 89-71.
The victory against Ashland came six days after a 98-74 loss to Xavier on Tom Blackburn Court.
“There’s a lot that we can take from it,” said Dayton forward Nate Santos, who led all scorers with 20 points, “and a lot that we need to improve on. It’s good to come out with a win, but there’s definitely a lot that we need to work on. We need to come together and get better.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. Ashland shot better from 3-point range than Dayton: The Flyers made 7 of 17 3s in the first half but 3 of 14 in the second half and finished at 32.3% (10 of 31). Ashland made 9 of 26 (34.6%).
Dayton took 29 2-point shots and 31 3-point shots. Only Santos, who made 6 of 8 3s, shot well. Freshman Hamad Mousa also shot 50% (1 of 2), though his one make was a banked 3.
Grant said the team’s shot selection was one thing that stood out for him.
“I just didn’t feel like we ever got into rhythm offensively,” Grant said. “I felt like, in the first half, we got into the flow, and then we broke the flow. Just no continuity, no consistency, no purpose behind what we were doing.
“I would equate it to playing in the summer. Like it’s just pick-up ball. It’s my turn. Let me see what’s going on for me, as opposed to playing with any purpose. To be honest, I think this is in some ways probably going to be a common thing for a lot of teams because we’re all bringing in new guys. They’re not familiar with each other and how to play with each other.”
2. The Flyers lost focus early in the second half: Dayton had 11 turnovers against Xavier and 14 against Ashland. Six of them came in the first four minutes of the second half. Enoch Cheeks and Javon Bennett each had two turnovers during that stretch. Zed Key had the other.
“This is always going to be a sport that it kind of becomes contagious,” Grant said. “If you see a team that’s in a flow offensively and they’re making the extra pass and they’re getting open looks, it almost becomes contagious. The next guy is going to do that. He’s going to make the extra pass. That’s the game of basketball. The other side of it is guys are forcing things, trying to make plays that aren’t there ... I felt like we saw a lot of that, especially in the second half. I think we had a stretch there with seven empty possessions. It was turnovers. It was missed 3s. It was one pass and shot. We just kept doing it over and over and over again.”
3. Grant again spread the minutes between 11 players: Santos, Cheeks, Bennett, Key and Malachi Smith started for the second straight exhibition game. Ten of the 11 available scholarship players saw at least 10 minutes of action. The 11th, Jaiun Simon, played just under five minutes.
Brady Uhl (ankle) and Marvel Allen (knee) continue to be sidelined by injuries and were not in uniform. Grant had this update on Allen after the game.
“Marvel is probably going to have to have another procedure done,” Grant said. “We’ll get more information over the next week or so, but I think it’s trending toward that.”
NEXT GAME
St. Francis at Dayton, Nov. 4, 7 p.m., Spectrum News 1, ESPN+, 1290, 95.7
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