The VCU star Shulga, the favorite to win the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year award next week, immediately made the Surrender Cobra gesture, putting his hands on his head with his elbows pointed to the side.
Dayton forward Zed Key had the opposite reaction, raising both hands in the air to celebrate a 79-76 victory at the Siegel Center in the final game of the regular season.
Dayton nearly added another sad chapter to its history in the series by blowing an eight-point lead in the final minute but hung on for its best victory since December. The Flyers ruined Senior Night for VCU, prevented the Rams from clinching the outright A-10 championship, spoiled their perfect home record and got payback after blowing a 59-54 lead in the final minutes in a 73-68 loss at UD Arena one month earlier.
“It’s revenge,” Key said. “They beat us at our place. We knew coming into the game we had to secure the W to get the three seed, so this game meant a lot for us as well. We came in here and handled our business.”
Dayton (22-9, 12-6) clinched the No. 3 seed in the A-10 tournament and will start play in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. March 14 at Capital One Arena. The victory assures Dayton won’t see No. 1 seed VCU (25-6, 15-3) until the championship game if both teams win their first two games.
“It was just a really physical game, a hard-fought game,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “They’re really good. ... The thing for our guys is just being resilient. We knew coming to the week that this would be a big week for us as we head into the A-10 tournament. We had an opportunity to control our own destiny, and we did that. So I’m proud of the win.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 31st game:
1. Dayton took control of a back-and-forth game late in the second half: Dayton opened the game with an 11-2 run and led by as many as 11 points in the first half. By halftime, though, VCU had cut the deficit to 28-27.
In the second half, the lead swung back and forth again and again. There were 12 lead changes and four ties.
The momentum turned Dayton’s way in the last five minutes. Dayton trailed 60-58 after a 3-pointer by VCU’s Jack Clark with 5 minutes, 5 seconds remaining.
Dayton then went on an 8-0 run. The spurt started when Javon Bennett missed a floater in the lane but chased down the loose ball and saved it from going out of bounds, throwing it back to Nate Santos, who used a shot fake to create space and then scored on a layup to tie the game at the 4:25 mark.
On Dayton’s next possession, Santos dribbled into the paint and fed Key for a dunk.
Then Bennett, who led Dayton with 22 points, scored eight points on three possessions. He made 2 of 2 free throws, stole a long in-bounds pass and scored on a layup and then converted a 4-point play at the 2:11 mark to give Dayton a 70-62 lead.
“They were leaving me open,” Bennett said. “I just kind of moved a little bit. When it went into my hands, I was like, ‘I’m just gonna shoot it.’ And it felt good. He just basically ran into me.”
The Flyers stretched their lead to eight points two more times in the final two minutes.
“Just just being tough, being resilient,” Santos said. “The game was kind of up and down. Some things weren’t going away at times. We just kept fighting.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. The final minute was a near disaster for Dayton: The Flyers nearly gave up an eight-point lead in the final 50 seconds and then a six-point lead in the final 20 seconds. VCU made 4 of 5 field goals before the miss at the buzzer by Shulga.
Dayton led 77-75 when Enoch Cheeks turned the ball over under the basket. He then fouled Joe Bamisile with six seconds to play. Bamisile made the first free throw but missed the second.
VCU again turned on the pressure. This time, Dayton got the ball to Malachi Smith, who made 2 of 2 free throws with 5 seconds to play.
After the second make by Smith, VCU gave the ball to guard Zeb Jackson, who dribbled across half court before passing to Shulga, who had Santos on one side of him and Cheeks on the other as he attempted the final shot.
“Our guys did a nice job of fighting back at the end of the game and making it a game,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said. “They kept playing hard and gave themselves a chance all the way down to the end. It’s a disappointing ending for us certainly. We wanted to play better tonight than we did, but Dayton had a lot to do with that.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. Dayton heads to the postseason on a positive note: Dayton had been getting attention as a team in the mix for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament entering this game. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed Dayton near the bottom of a list of 12 teams on the wrong side of the bubble.
Dayton may still have slim hopes, but they aren’t dead as they seemed in February. Of course, the Flyers can make the at-large discussion moot by winning the A-10 tournament for the first time since 2003.
Dayton closed the regular season with four straight victories for the first time since 2020 when it won its last 20 games. That team didn’t get to play in the postseason because of the pandemic. Prior to 2020, the last Dayton team to close the regular season with at least four victories in a row was the 1990 team that won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament.
“We’re not done,” Grant said. “We understand the situation. We understand the opportunity in front of us. We’re going to continue to push forward. We’re excited about next week.”
STAR OF THE GAME
Javon Bennett scored 22 points on 6-of-15 shooting. He made 5 of 10 3-pointers and 5 of 5 free throws.
STAT OF THE GAME
Dayton made 9 of 23 3-pointers (39.1%). VCU made 5 of 30 (16.7%), its second worst 3-point percentage of the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Dayton will get a double bye in the A-10 tournament and start play in the quarterfinals on March 14 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. It will play the final quarterfinal game at 7:30 p.m.
NEXT GAME
Dayton vs. TBA in A-10 tournament, 7:30 p.m. March 14, USA Network/Peacock, 95.7, 1290
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