The Dayton Flyers blew an opportunity to improve their metrics when they let a 40-point lead against North Carolina Central shrink fast in the final minutes in a 74-55 victory.
Dayton did not let that happen Tuesday. The coaches made one substitution in the final seven minutes and left the starters in the game for the final four minutes — even with the game all but decided — in an 88-71 victory against East Tennessee State.
Asked if the NET and the importance of margin of victory was in the back of his mind in the final minutes, Dayton coach Anthony Grant said, “Of course. It has to be, right? That’s the reality of the sport.”
Dayton ranked 88th in the first NET ranking of the season Monday. It climbed two spots Tuesday. This victory should provide another boost. It led to a three-spot jump in the Pomeroy ratings, where Dayton is No. 62.
Dayton led ETSU by as many as 21 points in the second half. The Buccaneers scored seven points in the final two minutes. Dayton pushed the lead to 17 points with baskets by Jordan Derkack and Keonte Jones in the final minute.
“We just had to go out there and finish the game off,” Dayton guard De’Shayne Montgomery said. “If we have a big lead, we can’t relax a little bit. That’s when they creep up. We’ve got to keep putting our foot on the neck. Just keep it going.”
Dayton (7-2) won its 31st straight non-conference home game. Here are three takeaways:
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
1: Montgomery was the offensive star: The junior guard matched his career high with 27 points. He also hit that total as a freshman at Mount St. Mary’s. He made 8 of 14 field goals, including 3 of 7 3-pointers, and 8 of 8 free throws.
Montgomery improved his season scoring average to 15.8. He’s just behind the team leader Javon Bennett (16.0).
“Every single one of my teammates, every single of my coaches, they all give me the utmost confidence in myself,” Montgomery said, “so all I’ve got to do is just go out there, believe in myself and then perform.”
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Dayton dominated the first five minutes of the second half: Montgomery caught a pass near halfcourt with 3 seconds to play in the first half and scored on a layup at the halftime buzzer to give Dayton a 46-38 lead.
Then the Flyers opened the second half with an 11-0 run in a five-minute stretch, taking a 57-38 lead. ETSU (6-2) got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Dayton was outscored 15-5 in the first five minutes of the second half in an 83-79 loss to Brigham Young on Friday at the ESPN Events Invitational. A day earlier, Georgetown outscored Dayton 12-3 in the first five minutes, though the Flyers won that game 84-79 in overtime.
This time, Dayton took control in the second half.
“We talked about that as a team,” Montgomery said. “We’ve been coming out in the first four minutes of the second half a little slow in the previous games. That was a big emphasis. Now we’ ve got to build on it for every game.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: Dayton made a living at the free-throw line: Dayton made 28 of 35 free throws (80%), matching its season high for made free throws. It made 28 of 41 in an 88-48 victory against Canisius in the season opener.
Dayton’s Jordan Derkack made 10 of 13 free throws and scored 14 points. He made 9 of 13 against Georgetown but 2 of 7 against BYU. He leads the team in free-throw attempts (36 of 55, 65.6%).
Dayton improved its season free-throw shooting percentage to 72.4. The national average is 71.6.
“I heard a lot about free throws this past week,” Derkack said, “so I wanted to get to the line as much as possible and make as much as possible. That’s just a part of my game that I’m good at. I wanted to give the team whatever I could do to help us win.”
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton vs. Virginia
Where: Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
When: 2 p.m., Saturday
Streaming: ESPN2
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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