The Flyers didn’t play well enough against a team that’s a half game out of last place in the Atlantic 10 Conference to convince anyone they have turned their season around, but they avoided the program’s first five-game losing streak in 20 years.
“I would say the big word we were using was pride,” Dayton guard Javon Bennett said. “I think we kind of lost our sense of pride and what it means to play at Dayton. Coach (Anthony Grant) mentioned that in yesterday’s practice, and I feel like the guys responded well today, and hopefully we can just keep continuing that and build off of this.”
Asked about Bennett’s mention of pride, Grant gave a long answer, summing up the current state of the team on a night six fans in the Red Scare student section spelled out “FIRE AG” with letters on the front of white T-shirts.
Among the highlights of the 500-plus word answer:
• “When you win,” Grant said, “it’s not as good as people want to act like it is, and when you lose, it’s not as bad as people want to act like it is. It’s a long season.”
• “I know we live in a result-oriented world,” Grant said. “I get it. But that’s just not the whole story. ... There’s a lot that goes into what we do. These guys want to be good. My job is to try to help them figure out how they can go about doing that over the course of a long season. You’re going to have ebbs and flows. You’re going to have peaks and valleys. There’s going to be adversity that hits you in pretty much every season.”
• “Let’s keep perspective on what’s real,” Grant said. “They’re human beings. They go through the same stuff that you go through, the same stuff that your family goes through, your children go through. We’re doing it on a public stage.”
Dayton (15-8, 6-4) beat St. Bonaventure (13-10, 2-8) for the sixth straight time at UD Arena since a 79-72 victory in 2016.
Here are five takeaways from Dayton’s 23rd game:
Credit: David Jablonski
1: Javon Bennett and Jordan Derkack were the heroes: Bennett scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. His biggest basket, though, came in the final minute.
Bennett beat a defender at the 3-point line and scored on a layup as another defender ran at him. The shot with 48 seconds to play broke a 68-68 tie.
After St. Bonaventure’s Frank Mitchelll made 2 of 2 free throws to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining, Dayton didn’t call timeout. Bennett brought the ball up the court and passed to Amaël L’Etang, who swung the ball to Derkack behind the 3-point line with seven seconds to play.
Derkack dribbled into the paint and drew a foul from St. Bonaventure’s Cayden Charles with 2.3 seconds remaining. He made both free throws to give Dayton a 72-70 lead.
Derkack, one of the most effective players in the nation at getting to the line, set season highs in made free throws (12) and attempts (15). He scored 18 points.
“The last two in particular, I think it’s credit to my guys,” Derkack said.
Derkack had to wait to shoot the free throws because Charles fouled out on the play and St. Bonaventure had time to replace him.
“I had time to think about it,” Derkack said, “but not one of my guys had anything but confidence in me. It was all positive words. I kind of knew once I got to the line, I was making both of those.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton tried something different with its lineup: With Jaiun Simon sidelined by a back injury, Jacob Conner made his first start since the George Washington game on Jan. 6. Conner brought the ball up the court and ran the point when he was in the game. He’s played that role at times this season but not as much over the course of a game.
Conner had three assists, three rebounds and one turnover in 26 minutes. He missed all three of his field-goal attempts.
Bennett, not playing in his normal spot at point guard, made 4 of 5 3-pointers in the first half.
“I think we’re just looking for a way to flow better offensively,” Grant said, “a way to help our guys play to their strengths. Jacob is versatile. I think Jacob’s played every position for us this year. When you think about how difficult that is in our system, to go from the one to the wing to the five to the four, I think it’s pretty special that he’s able to function in all those areas. He’s got a very high IQ, and we felt like we could put him in a position to play to his strengths better in that position, and help Javon, help De’Shayne (Montgomery), help some of the other guys as well.”
Dayton posted an effective field-goal percentage of 47.8, its eighth-worst mark of the season, but limited turnovers to 10 and made 28 of 33 free throws.
“We’ve had some struggles of late offensively,” Grant said. “One of the strengths of our team has been when we can set our defense and press and be able to play to that identity. In order to do that, you’ve got to be able to score the ball. You’ve got to have some success putting the ball in the hole. So we’ve got to find better ways to help our guys have that success.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: Dayton did a better job of guarding the 3-point line: St. Bonaventure made 4 of 19 3-pointers (21.1%). Even after that performance, it ranks 40th in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage (36.8).
Dayton had allowed a higher 3-point shooting percentage in four straight losses, culminating in Saint Louis shooting 64.3% (17 of 28) on Friday.
Dayton ranks 290th in the nation in 3-point defense (36%).
St. Bonaventure’s last miss was the most important stop for Dayton. After Derkack’s free throws, St. Bonaventure’s Daniel Egbuniwe threw an in-bounds pass to Darryl Simmons II at halfcourt. Simmons dribbled to his left with Bennett following him and missed a 3 at the buzzer.
“Like I told the guys, it’s been a couple of tough weeks with four straight losses, and it’s a combination of happiness and relief that you’re able to show resolve and and be able to fight and stay together and believe and do all the things that you have to do when you face adversity.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton (14-7, 5-4) at VCU (17-6, 8-2)
When: 7 p.m., Friday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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