Nate Santos takes a stab in the back from Saint Louis defender. (Press Pros Feature Photos By Julie McMaken Wright)
Yellow Springs comedian David Chappelle arrived at UD Arena for his first-ever visit just in time to witness a 19-2 UD run that enabled the Flyers to score a 75-67 victory over Saint Louis, UD’s 20th victory.
Dayton, OH — As University of Dayton basketball coach Anthony Grant walked up the dark tunnel that leads from the UD Arena floor to the dressing room, he was stopped and embraced by a guy in a watch cap.
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“It’s not every day you get a hug from Dave Chappelle,” said Grant.
That’s much better than a gut punch to the solar plexus that the Saint Louis University basketball nearly applied Tuesday night.
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Chappelle, the nationally-known comedian from nearby Yellow Springs, made his maiden visit to UD Arena and witnessed the Flyers pull out another Houdini-like win, 75-67.
Chappelle didn’t arrive until early in the second half and what he saw wasn’t funny. UD trailed, 51-37, and hadn’t led since 2-0.
But his presence was a magic elixir, a magic potion. The Flyers, bull-whipped by tiny guard Javon Bennett, exploded on a 10-0 run with Bennett scoring eight.
That pulled the Flyers to within four, 51-47, with the Flyer Faithful tearing down the house.
The Billikens regained their composure, temporarily, and boosted their lead to 60-54 with eight minutes left.
Comedian David Chappelle celebrates UD win with Coach Anthony Grant.
The decibel level was rock concert high over the final eight minutes, a 17-2 UD sprint away that netted a 71-62 lead with 3:15 left. At one point, 10 straight UD shots emerged from the bottom of the nets.
The Flyers never looked back as Chappelle saw all the good stuff and none of the awfulness perpetrated by UD in the first half when they trailed by as many as 15 points.
Said UD’s Zed Key, “Can Chappelle come to the rest of our games. . .for the entire game?”
The Flyers didn’t need a message in a bottle to know that Saint Louis was coming to town well-armed and well-prepared.
They were on a three-game winning streak and won their previous game, 98-67, over Loyola of Chicago. And the Billikens are one of only two teams to beat VCU this season in Atlantic 10 play.
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And they showed how in the first half with a Three Musketeers attack. Saint Louis led at intermission, 41-28, and three players had the 41 points.
Isaiah Swope, a 5-10 senior guard, could have stood on his head and hiked the ball between his legs and it would have gone in.
Amael L’Etang hits a three over defender’s tight defense.
He averages 17.5 points, but he had 18 at halftime on seven of nine shooting, 3 of 5 from three as Swope swooped with a swagger.
And then there was Gibson Jimerson, who seemingly has been at Saint Louis long enough for his driver’s license to expire. . .maybe for his birth certificate to expire.
Jimerson is one of the nation’s elite three-point shooters with a quicker draw-and-shoot that Wyatt Earp. He scored 15 in the first half on five of seven from three.
The other eight was scored by 6-11 center Roberto Avila, who wears goggles that makes him look more like an Olympic diver than a basketball player.
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But he drives the basket like a runaway bus and he owned the other eight Saint Louis points.
When it was mentioned to Grant that only three Billikens scored in the first half, he smiled and said, “Oh, you noticed that, too, huh?”
Enoch Cheeks made 3 of 5 three-point shots adding to the team high of 17 points.
So did he and the second half emphasis was on defense with a capital ‘D.’
“We turned up the pressure, wore them out so that all those shots that fell for them in the first half didn’t fall in the second half,” said Grant.
During UD’s 19-2 breakaway, Saint Louis had a four-minute time lapse of no points.
Of the second half during which the Flyers turned off the Saint Louis offense as if they tightened pliers around their necks, Key said, “We had to guard the three-point line better. They came out the first half hitting everything. We went into the second half with a little deficit (Little? 41-28 isn’t little).
“We needed to guard better on the defensive end and we came together and got stops, ultimately got going in transition and turned the game around. We hunkered down and got tough.”
With the Flyers down, 55-53, Enoch Cheeks committed a pair of seemingly throat-slicing turnovers that Saint Louis turned into points and a 60-54 lead.
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Did he drop his head in embarrassment? Did he cry, “Why me?”
No, he went Cheeks-to-Checks — two straight three-pointers to tie it 60-60.
Zed Key flushes home a pass from Malachi Smith.
“When it happened (the turnovers), the guys told me, ‘Keep on playing, keep on playing,’” said Cheeks. “There was a lot of time left on the clock (7 1/2 minutes).
“When you go through stretches like that, it is always good to have a group of guys that tell you, ‘Keep on hoopin.’ When the game is on the line, anything can happen. I just tried to clear my head and focus on the next play.”
The next two plays — swish…three and swish…three.
Grant was non-plussed over Cheeks’ two blunders and said, “Cheeks is a player. We want the ball in his hands.”
Cheeks finished with a team-best 17 points, a team-best nine rebounds and two steals. Nate Santos chipped in with 13, while Amael L’Etang, Javon Bennett and Key each had 10.
Key made two late-game blocks on Jimerson three-point attempts and said, “I had to get up on Jimerson at the three-point line. When the coaches emphasize to get up on the three-point line, it’s an attitude of doing what the coaches ask you to do.”
Nate Santos dives for a loose ball and wins the argument.
After making 8 of 16 first-half threes, the Billikens were only half as good in the second half and made only 4 of 16.
After a 5 for 7 first half, Jimerson was 2 for 8 in the second half and added only eight points to his 15 first-half total.
Swope added 10 points to his first-half 18 as his shooting fell off in the second half to 4 for 8 as the Flyers denied him the ball.
The victory was Dayton’s 20th against nine losses and their 11-6 Atlantic 10 record keeps them in the hunt for a double bye in the conference tournament.
The Flyers finish the regular season Friday night at VCU, arguably the A-10’s best team. . .by a wide crevice. The Rams slammed the Flyers, 73-68 in UD three weeks.
Payback, revenge, retribution — all those blood in the eye attitudes are on the Flyers’ mind.
When asked how bad they wanted to beat VCU, Key and Cheeks answered in unison, “Very bad, very bad.”
It is not known if Chappelle is busy Friday night
Javon Bennett contributed 10 points for the Flyers.
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