Enoch Cheeks scored nine early to launch UD’s early comeback. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
After getting upset by a mediocre George Mason team in Fairfax, Va., the 22-5 University of Dayton basketball team made certain it didn’t lose two games in a row for the first time this year, romping over Davidson, 80-66, with six Flyers scoring in double figures.
Dayton, OH. — Anybody who tried to convince somebody that Davidson would be a problem for the University of Dayton Tuesday night probably believes that 2+2=5.
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After all, Davidson lost three Atlantic 10 games in overtime and in its last game the Wildcats lost by three to first-place Richmond. Jordan King hit three free throws with two seconds left to give Richmond a 66-63 win.
So a favor for the Flyers flew out the window.
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And when Tuesday night’s game began, Davidson barged to a 6-0 lead and there was a lot of squirming going on in the UD Arena seats.
The Flyers, though, restored order by erupting on a 14-2 splurge, led by Enoch Cheeks. His nine points to start the game pushed UD’s lead to 17-10 and it just got bigger and bigger and bigger from there.
When it ended, UD owned an 80-66 victory and a whole bunch of other good stuff — a 22-5 overall record, a 12-3 Atlantic 10 record that left them a half game out of first place and a 14-0 home record.
It was a battle under the basket all night for DaRon Holmes II.
One thing the Flyers discovered on this night was that it is better to share and spread the wealth rather than lay it all in the lap of one player.
In their previous game, a 71-67 loss at George Mason, DaRon Holmes II scored 25 points, but no other Flyer found double digits.
On this night, six Flyers scored in double figures with Koby Brea coming off the bench to lead the way with 17 points. That included 5 for 9 from three-point land for the nation’s No. 1 three-point percentage shooter.
Kobe Elvis, who has had problems not just finding the nets, but finding the rim and the backboard in recent games, scored 11. Nate Santos had 10 and Javon Bennett 10.
Holmes did score 14, six below his league average, but he also grabbed 10 rebounds, his 26th career double-double, ninth this year.
But when the Flyers made their early run to catch and pass Davidson, Holmes was not a factor. He owned only four points at the half when UD led, 40-21.
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“Kudos to Deuce (Holmes) because he wasn’t pouting today,” said Elvis. “You know what I mean? That just shows what kind of a teammate he was today
“He wasn’t upset about nothing,” Elvis added. “He takes up a lot of real estate. Every time he was going to the basket he made the right plays with passes, so kudos to him.”
Kobe Evis hit three of six 3-points shots.
Elvis can bend over in a bow and accept kudos, too. His shooting slump, that included some point-blank blown chippies at the riim, had his percentage down at 35.8%.
But on this night he was 4 for 8, 3 for 5 from three.
“These guys. . .we always talk about it, what we can do better after certain games,” said Elvis. “During certain games, like after the George Mason game, they said I kinda gotta look to shoot the three rather than getting so deep in the paint.
“So that made me change focus and definitely helped keep my confidence high,” he added.
The Flyers were down 8-4 when Brea made his customary bench vacating five minutes into the game. And he immediately hit a three to launch the Flyers on a run to a lead that reached 28-12 in the first half and eventually reached a game-high 22 with 14 1/2 minutes left in the game.
And it was Brea’s off-the-bench and quick three that opened the throttle.
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“It’s awesome to be in that situation,” said Brea. “We have so many players that are able to make one play and have the momentum come our way. We’re a team that once we see that ball go through the rim one time, we just keep going, keep going, keep going.”
Brea’s first three was right in front of the Davidson bench, a close-up take-that. How does he feel about doing that?
Nate Santos drives the basket for two of his 10 points.
After giggling a few seconds, Brea said, “There is always some chirping going on. I think I learned my lesson the last time I played here for responding to their bench.”
After making a three in front of the Fordham bench, Brea did some chirping of his own and was smacked with a technical foul. “It’ a fun game and I love to do it.”
While compiling the 22-5 record, the Flyers have not lost two games in a row all season and had to rebound from the George Mason mess.
“We have competitive guys and they don’t like to lose one, let alone two in a row,” said UD Coach Anthony Grant. “Our guys did a great job of responding.
“They (Davidson) came out to take that little bit of a lead (6-0) and I was proud of our guys’ resiliency,”Grant added. “You want to start the game well and we didn’t necessarily do that, but we stayed the course.
The always pesky Javon Bennett knocks the ball away from Sean Logan.
“Defensively, we had great efforts across the board,” he said. Connor Kochea led Davidson with 16 points, but was 5 for 12, 2 for 6 from three. The Wildcats were 8 for 27 from three (29.5%) and 22 for 58 overall (37.9%). Davidson was without its leading scorer, David Skogman, who averages 13.3 points. And their seconds leading scorer, Grant Huffman (13.1) was 0 for 7 and 0 for 3 from three.
“Offensively, the ball movement in the first half was as good as we’ve had in quite some time,” said Grant. “We really shared the ball. When you look at the stat sheet and see six guys in double figures, that’s indicative of what this team is capable of.”
And of the 14-0 home record with one left, the regular season’s final game against Virginia Commonwealth, Brea said, “We gotta protect our house, man. We gotta protect our house. And this one (against VCU) is going to be personal for us. It’s personal because we haven’t had the best of experience against them here at home.”
And earlier this season, VCU knocked off the Flyers in Richmond, Va., pushing the Flyers out of first place.
Another three spree for Koby Brea………
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