Derkack committed to Dayton 11 months ago. He followed the Flyers the last two seasons because of his connection to Bennett — they played together as freshmen at Merrimack — but did he have any idea how much the Flyers have struggled in this postseason event over the years?
“Javon has kind of told me,” Derkack said, “in those late nights in the hotel, just talking.”
“Do you have any idea how long it has been since Dayton won the tournament?,” he was asked.
“No idea,” Derkack said. “I know (Anthony Grant) has never won the tournament.”
The answer, as the Flyer Faithful know well, is 23 years. Dayton won the event in 2003 at UD Arena. It has reached the championship game three times since (2011, 2015 and 2023) under three different coaches (Brian Gregory, Archie Miller and Anthony Grant) and lost each time. It has the longest current drought of any former champion.
After No. 4 seed Dayton (22-10) beat No. 13 St. Bonaventure (17-17) in the quarterfinals, maintaining the lead for the last 12 minutes without having more than a six-point advantage, the Flyers are two wins away from that elusive championship.
“I’m just excited for the Dayton community and the Dayton coaches,” Derkack said. “Javon’s been here for three years, and this is his first (A-10 tournament victory), so I’m happy for him.”
Bennett experienced losses to Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals in his first two seasons at Dayton. The Flyers avoided that fate Friday and ended a three-game A-10 tournament losing streak that started with a 68-56 loss to Virginia Commonwealth in the 2023 championship.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Bennett said. “You come in every year trying to play as far as you can in March. Just being able to win and do it with this group of guys with what we’ve been through this season, it means a lot.”
For St. Bonaventure, which fell short of becoming the lowest-seeded team to reach the semifinals, the loss meant the end of Mark Schmidt’s 19-year run as head coach. He announced Saturday he would retire after the 2025-26 season.
“Hat’s off to St. Bonaventure,” Grant said. “It was a heck of a fight. Coach Schmidt, obviously in my opinion, is one of the best coaches in the country. It’s been an honor to be able to compete against his teams for the last nine years. His career and what he’s been able to do at St. Bonaventure will speak for itself.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 32nd game:
1: The victory sets up a rematch with Saint Louis: Dayton will play the No. 1 seed Billikens (28-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The game will air on the CBS Sports Network.
Saint Louis rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat No. 9 seed George Washington 88-81 in the first quarterfinal Friday.
Saint Louis blew a nine-point lead of its own in the final five minutes but outscored George Washington 10-2 in the final 90 seconds after George Washington took a 79-78 lead on a 3-point play by Rafael Castro with 1 minute, 47 seconds remaining.
“They were able to get a hard-fought win today,” Grant said. “We were able to get a hard-fought win today. So we’ve got to be able to get our guys to focus on the next thing and put this behind us.”
Dayton and Saint Louis split two games in the regular season. Saint Louis routed Dayton 102-71 in St. Louis on Jan. 30. Dayton built a 25-point lead against the Billikens at UD Arena on Feb. 24 and then coasted to a 77-62 victory.
Dayton is 1-3 against Saint Louis in the A-10 tournament. The last time they played in the 2019 quarterfinals, Saint Louis won 64-55 on its way to its most recent A-10 tournament championship.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Bennett carried the Dayton offense: He scored 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He made 6 of 10 3-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws.
Bennett made 4 of 6 3s in the first half, lifting Dayton to a 30-27 halftime lead.
“He was massive for us tonight, especially in the first half, just keeping us alive,” Derkack said. “We were in a little bit of a rough patch offensively early in the first half.”
Bennett fell one point short of tying the highest points total by a Flyer in the A-10 tournament since at least 2005.
Daron Holmes II scored 28 points once in the 2022 tournament and again in 2023. Toumani Camara also had a 28-point performance in 2023.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: Derkack’s ability to get to the free-throw line saved Dayton again: He scored 15 points and made 10 of 12 free throws.
In the final five minutes, Derkack made 7 of 8 free throws. It was a similar story two games earlier in a 68-66 victory at Richmond when Derkack scored the last five points of the game with three of them coming at the line. In a 72-70 victory against St. Bonaventure at UD Arena on Feb. 9, Derkack made 12 of 15 free throws.
The St. Bonaventure players knew what Derkack was trying to do. He ranks second in the country in free-throw rate, which measures a player’s ability to get to the line.
At one point in the first half, players at the end of the St. Bonaventure bench yelled at their teammates, “Don’t jump,” when Derkack got the ball in the paint. He still drew a foul.
“When I’m in the game, all I can really think about is trying to win,” Derkack said. “Coach always preaches, ‘Let’s figure out a way to win this game.’ In this case, I thought that getting fouled and getting to the free-throw line was going to be the best possible situation for us to win.”
NEXT GAME
Who: No. 4 seed Dayton vs. No. 1 seed Saint Louis
When: 1 p.m., Saturday
Where: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh
What: A-10 tournament semifinals
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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