The Dayton Flyers got all they could handle from UMass on Friday night, but were able to make enough plays down the stretch to pull out a 75-72 win.
Dayton came into Friday’s quarterfinal as a heavy favorite against the 10th seeded Massachusetts Minutemen. Somebody forgot to tell UMass that they weren’t supposed to be competitive though as they dominated the majority of the first half.
Noah Fernandes, who was held scoreless in the first meeting between these two teams, had it rolling early. He scored 11 first half points and helped the Minutemen take a double-digit lead. Javohn Garcia knocked down a three-pointer right in front of the Dayton bench and afterwards let the bench know about it. He was immediately smacked with a technical foul which opened the door for Dayton to get back in it.
The Flyers went on an 8-0 run over the final 2:24 and had a go-ahead three-pointer go in-and-out right before the half as they settled for a 36-34 deficit.
DaRon Holmes II led all scorers with 16 first half points, despite vomiting at the Dayton bench early in the game. Toumani Camara played just nine minutes before he picked up his second foul and was relegated to the bench.
Dayton came out with much better energy in the second half, but the Minutemen had all the confidence they needed to bring this game down to final minutes.
The Flyers were struggling to get stops as Massachusetts had an answer for every Dayton run. It wasn’t until after the under eight timeout that UD was able to extend their lead to two possessions. In a minute span, a struggling Koby Brea got in the paint and hit a shot jumper and then got a steal that led to two R.J. Blakney free throws.
“For Koby, he’s shown how dangerous he can be as a shooter,” Anthony Grant said. “There’s a lot more to his game. I think he showed some of that tonight. He has the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. I thought he was able to make some huge plays for us.”
After a Matt McCall timeout, Massachusetts hit two big buckets to tie the score at 61. Brea again got in the lane for a finish to break the tie with under five to play.
Fernandes made a big bucket of his own with 2:45 remaining to put his team back in front, but it would be his final field goal of the night as he finished with 26. At the 1:29 mark following a Brea miss, Malachi Smith poked the ball loose from Fernandes around mid-court and it led to a fastbreak opportunity at the other end. Smith drew Trent Buttrick’s fifth foul and converted both free throws to bring Dayton within one.
Fernandes missed a pullup jumper at the other end and Dayton once again got the ball in deep to Holmes, who gave Dayton a one-point lead with under a minute to play.
Two more free throws by Smith made it a 6-0 run and Dayton made enough free throws to hang on to the three-point win.
“I told our guys it was going to take our ability to show some resiliency and a level of toughness to be able to match or surpass their energy,” Grant noted. “Down the stretch, it was going to come down to us getting stops and making plays. Thankfully, we were able to make enough plays on both sides of the ball tonight to be able to come out with the win.”
UMass led for nearly 29 of the 40 minutes with nine different lead changes and six ties.
Both of Dayton’s All-Rookie selections persevered through adversity, Holmes under the weather and Smith with cramps. Deuce finished with a career-high 28 points on 12-15 shooting, while Malachi finished with 15 points, six assists, five rebounds and knocked down 8-10 from the line.
“There’s a level of toughness and grit, those guys weren’t going to be denied,” Grant explained. “I’m proud of them, that’s just growth. That’s continued growth for those guys to say hey man, this is March and this is what it’s all about.”
The Flyers survived and advanced, literally, and will face Richmond in tomorrow’s semifinal.
