Keonte Jones led the depleted Flyers with 15 points. (Press Pros File Photos)
With the loss of Jordan Derkack from Tuesday’s game at Duquesne, Dayton’s Flyers were missing three of their top six players in Derkack, Amael L’Etang and Malcolm Thomas, but coach Anthony Grant floated his eight remaining scholarships players in and out of the game and walked away with a 71-65 victory.
Pittsburgh, PA. — It hasn’t yet come to forcing University of Dayton basketball coach Anthony Grant to check out intramural players on campus or to search the local YMCA for players.
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Not yet. But it’s close.
The Flyers showed up Tuesday night at Duquesne’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse missing another starter.
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Jordan Derkack joined Amaël L’Etang and Malcom Thomas on the injured list, so the Flyers were missing two starters and a sixth man for the Atlantic 10 Conference game.
It didn’t matter. With a pieced together rotation, the Flyers scored a 71-65 victory to lift their A10 record to 4-and-0 — all four accomplished without L’Etang and Thomas.
So this is not a Utopian team. It is if Grant had a trunk full of contraptions, gadgets, thing-a-ma-jigs and Rube Goldberg inventions for this game.
Jaiun Simon and Bryce Heard started for the first time in their UD careers, plus seldom-used Sean Pouedet and freshman Damon Friery sprinkled in some quality fill-in time.
Javon Bennett was scoreless in the first half, but scored 14.
The Flyers were down to eight scholarship players and all played as Grant needed a conveyor belt to shuffle and shuttle them on and off the floor as he rotated the eight liberally.
“The fight in our guys from start to finish was on display tonight,” said Grant on his postgame radio show.
“Duquesne is a very explosive offensive team and we knew from the style of play standpoint we needed to take some things away from them. We did a really good job of that for most of the game,” he added.
The Flyers constructed an 11-point lead in the first half and when De’Shayne Montgomery hit a three at the intermission buzzer, UD led by 33-24.
And the lead was pieced together without any scoring help from UD’s leading scorer, Javon Bennett. He was 0 for 5, 0 for 3 on threes.
What aided and abetted the Flyers was that Duquesne shot threes in the first half as if the basket was a thimble — 1 for 14 as the Dukes tried to shoot over a pesky UD zone defense.
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While Bennett didn’t score, Duquesne’s leading scorer, Tarence Guinyard (16.9 ppg) didn’t score, either.
The makeshift lineup was in an unselfish mood. Of 11 first-half baskets, nine came off assists.
The second half was a challenge for the Flyers and they passed with an A+++.
Jaiun Simon hit two big three-pointers back-to-back.
“They (Duquesne) came out in the second half and were able to connect on some threes,” said Grant, referring to a pair of treys the Dukes hit in the first minute of the second half.
“They changed the pace of the game, the tempo of the game, so our guys had to step up and show a level of resiliency,” said Grant.
And that the Flyers did when Duquesne made three legitimate second-half spurts to draw close.
Duquesne took a one-point lead early in the second half, 37-36, pulled within one, 51-50, and three times were within three at 42-40, 49-47 and 63-61.
The Dukes (9-8, 1-3) wouldn’t go away, but the Flyers wouldn’t let them get away.
Guinyard hit a three 30 seconds into the second half, igniting a 13-3 Duquesne spurt that pushed the Dukes in front 37-36 with Guinyard burying another triple to push Duquesne in front.
The Flyers could have collapsed like a circus tent in a hurricane, but refused to do it.
They went on an 11-3 cruise to grab a 47-40 lead with 12 minutes left.
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During that spurt, Bennett scored his first points of the game on a drive to the basket to regain the lead, 38-37, Jacob Conner scored underneath and Bryce Heard buried two freebies.
Heard converted a traditional three-point play and recent Belgian import Sean Pouedet hit two free throws and drove for a basket and a 49-42 UD lead with 10 1/2 minutes left.
Jacob Conner was big off the bench with his all-around play.
And still Duquesne would not duck. They barged back to within 51-50. With a chance to take the lead, the Dukes missed two shots, teammates Guinyard and David Dixon collided and crumpled to the floor.
That enabled the Flyers to go five-on-three up the floor and Bennett hit his first three. Jaiun Simon hit two straight triples and UD’s lead was back to 63-55 with 3:47 to play.
Once again Duquesne said, “Nope, not over yet,” and trailed by two, 63-61, with two minutes left.
Bennett hit a two from the foul line at 1:33 and Keonte Jones made two free throws at 0:27.1 for a 67-61 lead and the Flyers coasted home.
“The last five minutes of the game, our guys really stepped it up and we were able to have some success offensively,” said Grant. “And we were able to get some big stops on the defensive end to secure the win.”
Even with three important operatives absent with leave, the Flyers put four players in double figures and it was balanced.
De’Shayne Montgomery hit a three at the intermission buzzer, which put the Flyers up at half-time 33-24. Montgomery finished with 11 points.
Jones led with 15, Montgomery had 13, Bennett 12 and Simon 10.
Of the seldom-used guys — Pouedet, Friery — and Jacob Conner off the bench — Grant said, “Those guys did a terrific job for us tonight. They knew. . .we tried to challenge them. We always talk about you never know when an opportunity is going to present itself. Make sure you’re ready.
“That’s been the theme throughout and I’m really proud of those guys. They played a huge key in helping us win today,” added Grant.
Conner, a starter most of the season but recently relegated to off-the-bench duty, buried a big three and pulled off a steal that led to one of Bennett’s big baskets.
He had six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Friery, a 6-foot-9 freshman from Cleveland, contributed 12 minutes during which he hit a three and blocked two shots.
Keonte Jones was the pivot point in this game with his 15 points (6 for 8 from the foul) as the Flyers continue dead-eye marksmanship from the foul line by hitting 23 of 28.
“Keonte has done it all year, it is nothing new in terms of his effect on us winning,” said Grant. “He’s a special player.”
And on this night, with a short roster, the Flyers pulled off a tall victory.
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