Xeyrius Williams hits the biggest shot of his life in UD win

Without either shot, the Flyers would have spent the night in nearby Newport — weather forced them to postpone their flight home — with plenty of bad dreams. Instead, they slept well thoughts of a 75-74 victory Friday dancing in their heads.

The sophomore forward Williams, a Springfield native who graduated from Wayne High School, was the hero. He paused before deciding that, yes, this was the biggest shot of his career — high school or college.

“This is definitely No. 1,” Williams said. “The stage is way different. I think this is the biggest.”

The two shots put Dayton (19-5, 10-2) back in first place by a half game over idle Virginia Commonwealth (19-5, 9-2). Dayton earned its best road victory from an RPI standpoint. Rhode Island (16-8, 8-4) ranks No. 35, and No. 32 UD has two victories over the Rams.

The drama overshadowed another storyline. With the victory, Dayton’s seniors tied the school record for wins by a class. This was No. 97. The 2011 class, starring Chris Wright, also won 97. Scoochie Smith, Kendall Pollard, Kyle Davis, Charles Cooke and walk-ons Joey Gruden and Jeremiah Bonsu likely will obliterate the mark, and they get the first chance to make it their own Tuesday at Saint Louis.

“It means a lot,” Smith said. “Everything me and the rest of the seniors have been through, me, Kendall and Kyle and bringing in Cooke for two years. We just compete and give it our all. Making history is the best feeling.”

The sophomore class has a long way to go match the exploits of the seniors, but Williams has a shot to match the best of those seniors. Until the late 3-pointers, he was 0-of-2 from 3-point range with seven points.

“That’s the kind of kid he is,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “He’s not fazed by a lot. He’s got that unconscious ability to just fire it. Scoochie delivered the ball right on the money two times, and that’s what a point guard does.”

Smith told Williams before a game at Duquesne earlier this season, “You’re going to get some buckets.” He told him the same thing before this game. Smith made it happen by assisting Williams on the two 3-pointers.

Kuran Iverson made two free throws with 24 seconds remaining to give the Rams a 73-69 lead. Five seconds later, Williams hit the first 3-pointer.

“After I missed the first two shots in the first half, I was saying, ‘Find me one more time. I’m due,’” Williams said. “Once he kicked it to me, I was like, ‘It’s going in.’ I put it up. It was good.”

Rhode Island’s E.C. Matthews made 1 of 2 free throws with 16 seconds to play. Eight seconds later, Smith found Williams in the corner, and everyone flashed back to the big shot by Davis a season ago.

“I knew Scoochie was going to draw two,” Williams said. “He didn’t go as far (to the hoop) as I thought. But I knew I was going to put it up. The thought was there.”

The fantastic finish erased the frustrations Dayton felt in the first half when it made 4 of 20 shots from inside the arc and fell behind by as many as 11 points. The Flyers did make 4 of 9 3-pointers in the half. That was one reason they trailed 36-30. The deficit could have been much greater.

Dayton started the second half on a 9-2 run. For the rest of the second half, it was a back-and-forth game. There were eight ties and 11 lead changes.

Pollard led the Flyers with 17 points. Williams and Cooke each scored 13. Iverson led the Rams with 20 points.

“They were really good on defense in the first half,” Miller said.” They got back. They didn’t let us in transition, and we were very soft around the basket, not being able to score. We kept it to a workable margin, which was key. Then right out of the gate in the second half, I thought our guys were locked in. We did a much better job in the second half.”