Dayton basketball: Flyers face double-digit halftime deficit in A-10 championship game

Virginia Commonwealth's Nyk Lewis makes a 3-pointer against Dayton on the first possession in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. David Jablonski/Staff

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Virginia Commonwealth's Nyk Lewis makes a 3-pointer against Dayton on the first possession in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. David Jablonski/Staff
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PITTSBURGH — Virginia Commonwealth made 8 of 14 3-pointers to build a 40-25 halftime lead against the Dayton Flyers in the Atlantic 10 Conference championship game Sunday at PPG Paints Arena.

The Rams led for all but one possession in the first half. Dayton tied the game at 10-10 after falling behind 8-3, but the Rams took the lead right back with a 3-pointer with 13 minutes, 4 seconds to play in the half.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Nyk Lewis and Terrence Hill Jr. each scored nine for VCU. Lewis made 3 of 3 3-pointers.

Amaël L’Etang scored seven points on 2-of-3 shooting for Dayton.

Key stat: VCU shot 57% from 3-point range, while Dayton shot 33% (3 of 9).

Big run: VCU outscored Dayton 16-4 in a six-minute stretch to turn a 24-19 lead into a 40-23 advantage with 1:01 to play.

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David Jablonski covers the Dayton Flyers and other sports for the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News-Sun and Journal News.