Greer’s dad, Ricardo Greer, UD’s associate head coach, hugged his son for about four seconds before patting him on the head. Greer had more handshakes and hugs ahead with guys he watched play as a Dayton fan in previous seasons.
The Alter High School grad Greer, a freshman guard at Davidson, never saw his dad’s team lose to Davidson in the last eight seasons but chose to play college basketball away from home.
Dayton extended that streak to nine seasons and 11 games Sunday, pulling away in the final four minutes for a 70-59 victory in its first game since a 99-73 loss at Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 6.
Greer played one minute in the game.
“There’s a lot of love and support for RJ,” Grant said. “I think he knows that — from the players on our team, to the coaches, to everybody. He’s going to be fine. He’s done a really good job of acclimating himself to their system and to the program. When he’s on the floor, he’s capable of knocking down shots. It’s great to see him. I’m rooting for him every day of the week but this one."
Davidson still hasn’t beaten Dayton since the 2017 A-10 tournament. Dayton’s 11-game winning streak in the series is tied for its third longest against an A-10 opponent.
With this victory, Dayton (16-9, 7-5) moved into a tie for fourth place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with Duquesne (15-10, 7-5) and Saint Joseph’s (15-10, 7-5) with six games to play. Davidson (15-10, 6-6) dropped into seventh place.
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 25th game:
Credit: David Jablonski
1: The Flyers took control late with a 7-0 run: Dayton led by as many as 11 points in the second half. Davidson got as close as one point with 6 minutes, 33 seconds to play and then trimmed the deficit to 57-54 with 3:56 to play.
A 3-pointer by Dayton guard Javon Bennett, who missed his first six attempts, gave Dayton a 60-54 lead at the 3:26 mark. On Dayton’s next possession, Jaiun Simon tipped in a missed shot by De’Shayne Montgomery.
Then a Davidson turnover led to a fast-break dunk by Montgomery with 2:37 to play. The Flyers led 64-54 and clinched the victory with six free throws in the final minute.
Davidson committed four of its 10 turnovers in the last four minutes.
“It was a one-possession game,” Montgomery said of the run, “and we, as a team, decided we had to close it out defensively and lock down on every possession.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton delivered its best rebounding performance: The Flyers rank second to last in the A-10 in rebounding margin (minus 1.6) but had a 39-18 rebounding advantage, including a 14-5 edge on the offensive boards. Dayton outscored Davidson 16-8 in second-chance points.
Davidson ranked one spot ahead of Dayton in rebounding margin (minus 0.7) but has posted better numbers in A-10 play, ranking sixth (plus 0.9).
“One of the things we were concerned about coming into the game is they have great size and length across the board,” Grant said. “I think the smallest guy they put out there is about 6-3. We knew we’d have to do a really good job of blocking out and rebounding. I thought we were exceptional on getting the second shots ourselves today. Just our ability to keep balls alive and to secure rebounds down the stretch.”
Jaiun Simon led Dayton with a career-high 13 rebounds and added 11 points to record his first career double-double.
Grant also singled out Bryce Heard, who had seven rebounds and 10 points, for praise.
“Bryce got some big ones down the stretch for us in terms of second-chance opportunities,” Grant said.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: The Flyers played short-handed again: Although Malcolm Thomas and Jacob Conner were not listed on the availability report, neither saw action in the game.
In the postgame press conference, Grant revealed both battled the flu in the nine-day break between games, as did Heard. Thomas returned to practice for one day before the game. Conner practiced twice. Grant still elected to keep them on the bench.
“We felt like the group that we had out there was having success,” Grant said.
Montgomery did see the court after not traveling with the team to VCU. He said he was sick for five days, starting with the St. Bonaventure game on Feb. 3, and lost 10 pounds.
Watching from home as the team lost for the fifth time in the last six games at VCU was hard for Montgomery.
“I wanted to be out there with my guys,” Montgomery said, “but I couldn’t move for real. I was just happy to put my jersey on back with these guys.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton (16-9, 7-5) at George Mason (21-5, 9-4)
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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