Jaiun Simon scored nine of his 14 points on foul shots, but he made this difficult runner in Dayton’s dominating second half. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Loyola Chicago was without three starters, including its two top scorers, but stayed with UD for a half, trailing by only 31-30, before a 15-4 Flyers run to start the second half enabled them to post a 78-51 and lift the Flyers to a 5-0 start in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Dayton, OH —The University of Dayton basketball team eventually prevailed Friday night in UD Arena against Loyola Chicago, a a team that is mostly up Cripple Creek.
On paper, the Flyers figured a 20-point victory was assured, but the UD Arena floor is made of wood, not paper.
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For the first 20 minutes, the Flyers were the basketball version of a train wreck. Mostly they fiddled and faddled, and fiddled more than faddled.
After leading by a slim and skinny one point at the half (31-30), the Flyers put together a 15-4 run to start the second half.
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For the second half they outscored the Ramblers, 47-21, and posted a 78-51 win that pushed the Flyers to 5-and-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
And why were the Flyers favored by 17 1/2 points when earlier this month they only beat Loyola, 70-68, on Javon Bennett’s buzzer-beating drive to the hoop through two Rambler defenders?
Because this one was the unfairest of unfair fights. Loyola was neither armed nor dangerous.
While the Flyers played without Malcolm Thomas and Jordan Derkack, Loyola displayed no empathy.
The Ramblers played without three starters and a sixth man. They were missing their top two scorers —Justin Moore (12.5) and Xavier Amos (11.4) and their No. 4 scorer, Kayde Dotson (10.1).
All told, Loyola took the floor with 41.4 points per game absent from their lineup.
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That pretty much explains the Ramblers’ 101-66 loss at George Washington in their game before arriving at UD Arena on a wing and a lot of prayers.
For 30 minutes the Ramblers were riding a good wing and prayers were answered.
DeShayne Montgomery beat the shot clock with this 3-pointer in the second half. He made three 3-pointers and led Dayton with 21 points.
“In the first half we were out of sorts on both sides of the ball,” said UD coach Anthony Grant. “We had a lot of self-inflicted wounds on offense and mistakes and breakdowns defensively.”
The players had a private meeting in the lockerroom at intermission before the coaches got there.
“We talked to one another when the coaches weren’t in there,” said De’Shayne Montgomer, who led all scorers with 21. “We were not playing our best basketball and we all knew that. We had to flip that switch, turn it up from there.”
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It was Montgomery and Bennett manning the switch. Montgomery scored 14 of his 21 in the second half and Bennett scored 11 of his 19 in the second half.
During the 15-4 breakaway to start the second half, five different Flyers scored.
“Our guys in the second half did a really good job of staying disciplined on the defensive end. It created offense for us, which made it more our style of play than it was in the first half,” said Grant.
The Flyers wore their new stealth black uniforms with chapel blue trim. Loyola wore its home white uniforms and instead of ‘Ramblers’ on the front it read ‘Blers.’ And they were a blur in the first half, but bleak in the second half.
“I love these, they are my favorite,” said Montgomery of the uniforms.
“What I said is that we’re 1-and-0 so we can bring ‘em back,” said Bennett.
Loyola’s last gasp was when they were down 10, 55-45, with 8 1/2 minutes left. But the Flyers finished with a 23-6 dash.
At 55-45, Montgomery drove for a basket and followed it with a three to make itr 60-45.
DeShayne Montgomery scored 21 points, finding a variety of ways to score, as usual.
After he swished the three just as the shot clock was about to buzz, he gave his chopping motion with his shooting (left) hand, said something to a Loyola defender and raised his hands to elicit response from the fans.
“That’s just my personality,” he said. “I like to talk trash. . .not too much because coach says I can’t hurt the team. I like to be in the other guy’s ears. If they’re thinking about me and not what they’re running, they’re gonna mess up eventually.”
The final point of emphasis on this one came 45 seconds apart — two three-pointers by Bennett at 5:02 and 4:15, the second one as the shot clock was expiring.
That pushed UD’s lead from 62-47 to 68-47, the death knell for the Ramblers.
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As has been his modus operandi recently, Bennett was deathly silent in the first half —2 for 6, 1 for 2 from three. In the second half he was 4 for 8 and 2 for 4 from three.
“That’s part of the game, missing shots,” he said. “But these guys got confidence in me and I have confidence in myself to go out there and make some shots, whenever that might be. I’m just playing to win.”
Keonte Jones scores during an 8-2 first-half run that lifted Dayton to a 19-17 lead.
After missing the first four A-10 games with a lower body injury, Amael L’Etang returned and play on a limited basis.
It looked as if Rustoleum was required for his lower body. He played 14 minutes and didn’t score, had two rebounds, one turnover and committed four fouls.
But Bennett and Grants were happy to see him wandering on the court.
“He gives us a little dynamic on the five man,” said Bennett. “He stretches the floor a little bit. It was really good to see him out there.”
Said Grant, “That was the most basketball he’s played in a month. It is good to have him back. He worked really hard. It was just good for him to get out there and get a feel for competion again.”
One guy who always feels the competition with solid play is Jauin Simon. He took only two shots and made both, but wore a path to the foul line (9 for 10) and scored 14. He also had six rebounds and three assists.
“He’s one of the veterans on the team, been here as long as me,” said Bennett. “He knows what’s needed and what coach wants. He steps up big.”
In the second half Friday, the entire team stepped up big after the took choppy baby steps in the first half.
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