Grant started his head coaching career at VCU in 2006. He led the program to two NCAA tournament appearances in three seasons before moving into Alabama in 2009. A framed photo of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in the media room at the Siegel Center celebrates Grant and VCU’s upset of Duke in the 2007 NCAA tournament.
That is all ancient history now. The novelty of Grant coaching in Richmond against the Rams wore off years ago. He coached against VCU for the 19th time as Dayton coach on Friday, and it was an adventure, an ordeal and an experience as always.
Dayton, which is 0-4 against VCU in the A-10 tournament in the last 12 seasons, improved to 4-0 on Senior Night in the series. The Flyers dominated the final minutes before falling apart in the final 30 seconds. They still escaped with a 79-76 victory. The Flyers ended VCU’s nine-game winning streak, ended VCU’s perfect season at home and spoiled the final home game of VCU’s five leading scorers: Max Shulga; Joe Bamisile; Zeb Jackson; Philip Russell, who missed the game with an ankle injury; and Jack Clark.
“The thing for our guys is just being resilient,” Grant said. “We knew this would be a big week for us as we head into the A-10 tournament. We had an opportunity to control our own destiny, and we did that. So I’m proud of the win.”
“Coach told us we were going in there to ruin their party,” Dayton guard Javon Bennett said. “That’s what we did.”
Dayton (22-9, 12-6) clinched the No. 3 seed in the A-10 tournament. It will play in the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The possible opponent won’t be known until Saturday night after the final day of the A-10 regular season. What is known is No. 1 seed VCU (25-6, 15-3) will be on the other side of the bracket. George Mason (23-7, 14-3) will be the No. 2 seed on Dayton’s side of the bracket even if it beats Richmond on Saturday and shares the A-10 title with VCU because it lost the head-to-head matchup against VCU in the regular season.
For the first time since 2020 when it won its last 20 games, Dayton takes a four-game winning streak into the postseason. That 2020 team didn’t get to play a postseason game because of the pandemic. The last time a Dayton team took this much momentum into the postseason — in 1990 when UD won its last seven regular-season games — it won the Midwestern Collegiate Conference tournament.
“This is big,” Dayton forward Nate Santos said of the victory against VCU. “This is good for momentum purposes.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Dayton had all the momentum entering the final minute Friday but almost added another sad chapter to the series. Shulga missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer with Santos and Enoch Cheeks guarding him. It was a good look considering the circumstances — Malachi Smith had just made two free throws with five seconds to play and VCU didn’t have much time to create a shot — but a difficult shot.
Dayton fans in the arena and around the country held their breath, expecting the worst considering the long list of heartbreaking losses in the series.
• In the previous matchup on Feb. 7, Dayton committed six turnovers in the last four minutes and lost 73-68. VCU trailed 59-54 but took control with a 12-0 run.
• A year earlier in the last game between the teams at the Siegel Center, DaRon Holmes II missed a game-tying shot at the buzzer. VCU won 49-47 despite not scoring in the last 5 minutes, 58 seconds.
• In the 2023 A-10 championship game, Dayton missed its last 15 shots and lost 68-56 to VCU.
• Earlier in the 2023 season at UD Arena, Dayton blew a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds and suffered a 63-62 loss at UD Arena.
• In 2022, Dayton fell 53-52 at UD Arena when Adrian “Ace” Baldwin made a go-ahead 3-pointer with six seconds to play.
• In 2021, VCU won 76-71 on a go-ahead 3-pointer by Marcus Evans in the final minute at the Siegel Center. Later that same season at UD Arena, the Flyers erased a 22-point deficit only to lose 69-68 on a layup by Evans with six seconds remaining.
There are more games on that list. On the other hand, Dayton has held its own against VCU in the regular season, at least for the last four seasons, splitting the two-game series each year. Aside from an 82-52 victory at VCU in 2022, there have been few easy games.
Even an eight-point lead with 53 seconds to play, a seven-point lead with 39 seconds to play and a six-point lead with 23 seconds to play nearly weren’t enough for Dayton. Two straight turnovers in the last 16 seconds by Dayton against VCU’s full-court press gave VCU a chance to send the game to overtime.
First, Santos didn’t put enough juice behind an in-bounds pass to Cheeks in the corner. Clark stole the pass and gave the ball to Shulga, who made a 3-pointer to cut Dayton’s lead to 77-75 with 15 seconds to play.
Then Santos threw an in-bounds pass to Cheeks in the corner. Cheek, trapped by two defenders, jumped and attempted a pass back to Santos. Jackson deflected the pass. Bamisile gathered the loose ball. Cheeks fouled him, giving him a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line. Bamisile made 1 of 2.
With a one-point lead, Dayton got the ball in-bounds to Smith. He made two free throws with five seconds remaining.
After the second free throw by Smith, VCU gave the ball to Jackson, who dribbled across half court before passing to Shulga, who was drifting to the right and fading away as he shot. The ball hit the back of the rim.
“Our guys did a nice job of fighting back at the end of the game and making it a game,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said. “They kept playing hard and gave themselves a chance all the way down to the end. It’s a disappointing ending for us certainly. We wanted to play better tonight than we did, but Dayton had a lot to do with that.”
Dayton won by making 9 of 23 3-pointers (39.1%), while VCU made 5 of 30 (16.7%). That helped Dayton overcome a free-throw gap. VCU made 25 of 31 free throws, while Dayton made 14 of 16.
Bennett led Dayton with 22 points. He made 5 of 10 3-pointers.
Bennett made the play of the game, a 4-point play with 2:12 to play. That capped a 12-2 run for Dayton, which turned a 60-58 deficit into a 70-62 lead. Until then, the second half had featured 12 lead changes and four ties.
“It was just a really physical game, a hard-fought game,” Grant said. “They’re really good. The last time we played them, there were some things I felt like were transferred to this game that we needed to do better. We need to take care of the ball better. I thought for about 39 minutes, we did a great job of doing that.
“I thought we needed to share the ball. I thought our ball movement today was great. We didn’t make all the shots, but guys did a good job getting shots. They hurt us on the glass again. That was a difference. That allowed them to get to the free-throw line. The discrepancy there was big. The thing for our guys is just being resilient. We knew coming to the week that this would be a big week for us as we head into the A-10 tournament. We had an opportunity to control our own destiny, and we did that. So I’m proud of the win.”
FRIDAY’S GAME
Dayton vs. TBA in A-10 tournament quarterfinals, 7:30 p.m., Peacock, 95.7, 1290
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