Even Jordan Derkack, who’s from New Jersey, had his own cheering section. His dad Gene played college basketball in the Sunshine State and reunited with his Florida International teammates at the game.
“This is pretty special,” Gene said.
It was a special Thanksgiving night in more ways than one for Dayton, which improved to 9-1 in an event that was called the Old Spice Classic when they won it the first time in 2011. It was the Advocare Invitational in 2015 when Dayton lost to Xavier in the championship game. It had the current name in 2022 when Dayton beat the Miami Hurricanes, No. 4 Kansas and Belmont to claim the title.
Tournament organizers may have to rename it the University of Dayton Invitational Tournament — the name of the old multi-team event the Flyers once played at UD Arena — if the Flyers can win it again.
Dayton (6-1) plays No. 9 Brigham Young (5-1) at 9:30 p.m. Friday in the championship game. The Flyers don’t get much time to savor a memorable victory that saw them blow a 15-point lead, rebuild the lead to 14 points and then watch it disappear as Georgetown ended the second half on a 16-2 run.
Somehow Dayton still found a way to win its second overtime game in nine days, adding to the momentum it gained with a 77-71 victory at Marquette.
“We just want to win,” Montgomery said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to win, no matter if we go to overtime, double overtime, two overtime, triple overtime. We’re going to battle it out until we’re on top.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s seventh game:
1: Bryce Heard made big shots all night: The sophomore guard missed all 10 of his 3-point attempts in the first five games. He made 2 of 4 in Dayton’s last game, a 74-55 victory against North Carolina Central on Saturday, and then made 3 of 4 against Georgetown, scoring a career-high 12 points.
The biggest shot by Heard came in overtime. After Bennett made a game-tying 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 31 seconds left in overtime, Heard made a 3 with 2:01 to play to give Dayton a 77-72 lead.
“It felt good,” Heard said. “You always have got to stay ready for the moment. I’ve been waiting on that my whole life. Playing in front of a crowd like this, in an environment like this, it’s big time.”
2: Amaël L’Etang played one of his best games of the season: The sophomore forward led Dayton with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He made 2 of 2 3-pointers and 6 of 7 free throws.
Dayton led 67-53 after a 3-point play by L’Etang with 5:46 to play in the second half.
Georgetown outscored Dayton 16-2 the rest of the way, tying the game at 69-69 on two free throws by Isaiah Abraham with 35 seconds to play.
Georgetown took a 72-69 lead on a 3 by KJ Lewis on the first possession of overtime. Dayton answered with an 8-0 run.
“Overtime is part of the game,” L’Etang said. “They made a great comeback. But we always stayed focused, and we made it through. It was great.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: Dayton continued its winning streak against the Big East: The Flyers have won six in a row against the conference that so many members of the Flyer Faithful have clamored to get into over the years.
After a 90-61 loss to Xavier in 2015, Dayton beat Butler at the Battle 4 Atlantis in 2018, St. John’s at the Charleston Classic in 2023, Connecticut in the Maui Invitational in 2024, Marquette at UD Arena in 2024 and then Marquette in Milwaukee this season.
Dayton beat Georgetown (5-1) in the first meeting between the programs since the Hoyas beat the Flyers in the Elite Eight in 1984 when Grant was a freshman Flyer.
“I’m just proud that we were able to find a way to win,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “Obviously, Georgetown gave us a heck of a fight. We had some tired bodies out there, and the guys found a way to win. We’re excited because we get a chance to play for a championship tomorrow.”
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