The Patriots became the first Atlantic 10 Conference team other than Virginia Commonwealth to beat the Flyers on their home court since La Salle on Dec. 30, 2020. The Flyers had won 20 straight home games against the rest of the conference.
Here’s a quick recap of the game:
What it means: Dayton (19-10, 11-5) handed Virginia Commonwealth (22-7, 13-3) a share of the A-10 regular season title. VCU leads Dayton and Saint Louis (19-10, 11-5) by two games with two games to play.
Star of the game: Dayton forward DaRon Holmes II scored a career-high 34 points on 11-of-17 shooting but missed two free throws in the final minute that would have tied the game and turned the ball over on an in-bounds pass with four seconds left when Dayton faced a three-point deficit.
Stat of the game: George Mason shot 58.1% (25 of 43) from the field. It’s the first opponent to shoot better than 50% against Dayton this season.
Key shot: Devon Cooper, who scored 16 points, made a go-ahead layup with 46 seconds left.
Big turnover: With Dayton trailing 68-66, Malachi Smith turned the ball over on a pass under the basket with 10 seconds remaining.
Missed opportunities: Dayton shot 59.3% (16 of 27) at the free-throw line. Holmes made 12 of 18. George Mason made 17 of 23 (73.9%).
Looking ahead: Dayton plays its final home game at 7 p.m. Tuesday against La Salle (13-15, 7-8).
HALFTIME RECAP
Holmes scored in the final seconds of the first half off a pass from Smith, but that was the only field goal of the last five minutes for the Dayton Flyers, who trailed George Mason 33-28 at halftime.
Here’s a quick recap of the first half:
Key player: Holmes led all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Key stat: George Mason shot 58% from the field, while Dayton shot 48%.
Turning point: The game was tied at 25-25 with five minutes to play after a basket by Holmes. George Mason then went on an 8-1 run.
Rotation news: Mike Sharavjamts returned to the rotation after missing the game Wednesday at UMass with an illness. This is the second game this season Dayton has had a fully healthy roster.
Around the A-10: Virginia Commonwealth (22-7, 13-3) beat Richmond 73-58 at the Siegel Center on Friday to stay in first place with two games to go. VCU plays a home game against Saint Louis on Tuesday and can clinch a share of the regular-season title with a victory. It closes the season March 4 at George Washington.
Fordham (23-6, 11-5) beat Rhode Island 74-71 on Saturday to move closer to clinching a top-four seed.
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