Dayton basketball: Flyers advance in A-10 tournament for first time since 2023

What it means: Dayton (22-10) ended a three-game losing streak in the A-10 tournament. It beat St. Bonaventure (17-17) for the second time this season in the first A-10 tournament matchup between the programs since Dayton won 75-71 in the quarterfinals in 2015.

These are the three games Dayton lost in the A-10 tournament leading into this game:

• In 2023 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., No. 2 seed Dayton lost 68-56 to No. 1 seed VCU in the A-10 championship game.

• In 2024 in Brooklyn, No. 3 seed Dayton lost 65-57 to No. 6 Duquesne in the quarterfinals. The Flyers led 52-48 at the 7:15 mark and were outscored 10-0 over the next three-plus minutes.

• In 2025 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., No. 2 seed Dayton lost 73-68 to No. 6 Saint Joseph’s in overtime.

Star of the game: Dayton guard Javon Bennett scored 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He made 6 of 12 3-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws.

Stat of the game: Dayton shot 42% (10 of 24) from 3-point range. St. Bonaventure shot 30% (3 of 10).

Big plays: Dayton had the lead for the last 12 minutes but never had a lead larger than six points.

St. Bonaventure cut Dayton’s lead to 65-63 with 51 seconds to play. Jordan Derkack then drew a foul and made both free throws with 29 seconds to play. Derkack then made 1 of 2 free throws with 15 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.

Missed chances: With 1:33 to play and Dayton leading 65-61, Cayden Charles drew a foul on a 3-point attempt, but he missed all three free throws.

Looking ahead: Dayton will play No. 1 seed Saint Louis (28-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. Saint Louis rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat No. 9 seed George Washington 88-81 in the first quarterfinal Friday.

Dayton and Saint Louis split two games in the regular season. They last played in the A-10 tournament in the 2019 quarterfinals. Saint Louis won 64-55 on its way to its most recent A-10 tournament championship.

HALFTIME RECAP

Bennett made 4 of 6 pointers, scoring 12 points in the first half, to lead Dayton to a 30-27 halftime lead.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Bennett also had three rebounds and an assist in 18 minutes.

Frank Mitchell scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting for St. Bonaventure.

Key stat: Dayton shot 43% (6 of 14) from 3-point range. St. Bonaventure missed all six of its 3-point attempts.

Biggest lead: Dayton led 21-15 with six minutes to play after back-to-back 3s by Bennett and Jaiun Simon.

Foul trouble: Dayton forward Amaël L’Etang picked up his second foul at the 8:43 mark and did not return in the half. He had seven points on 3-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds in eight minutes.

History lesson: Dayton led at the half for the first time since the 2023 tournament. It trailed Duquesne 30-28 at halftime in a 65-57 quarterfinal loss in 2024. It trailed Saint Joseph’s 33-24 at halftime in a 73-68 overtime loss in 2025.