3/5/2022

DAYTON – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team beat the Davidson Wildcats on Senior Day at UD Arena Saturday by a score of 82-76. 

The Flyers battled back from deficits as big as five points in the second half to knock off the A-10 regualr-season champion Wildcats. The win marks head coach Anthony Grant‘s 100th win as the head coach at The University of Dayton.

Freshman DaRon Holmes II and redshirt freshman Koby Brea led the Flyers with 20 and 18 points respectively. Holmes also added six boards, while Brea hit a clutch step-back three-pointer with :43 left to put Dayton up for good.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Dayton 34, Davidson 35

• Defenses prevailed to start the game as Davidson put up 4 points and Dayton only scored two off of a Holmes jumper at 16:43.
• At the first media timeout, Davidson held a 4-2 lead over the Flyers with 15:50 remaining in the half.
• At the fifteen-minute mark, redshirt freshmen Kobe Elvis and Brea scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the Davidson lead to one. 
• Redshirt freshman Mustapha Amzil checked into the game and immediately provided a spark off the bench as he buried a three to tie the game up at nine with 13:18 left in the half.
• The Wildcats went on a 7-2 run, which extended their lead to five.
• With 10:47 to go, Brea hit a three to bring the Flyers within two as they trailed 16-14. 
• Redshirt freshman R.J. Blakney drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 21 with 7:06 left in the half.
• Amzil scored his seventh point of the night at the right time, as he hit a floater to bring the game back even at 23-23 with 6:13 remaining. 
• The Flyers took their first lead of the game with a three-pointer by Blakney with 4:41 to go.
• Holmes created some momentum for the Flyers by stealing the ball on defense and throwing down an alley-oop dunk right after. This created a 28-25 lead for Dayton.
• Davidson’s Foster Loyer gave the Wildcats a tone-point lead at halftime by going three-for-three on free throws with eight seconds left in the half. Davidson led the Flyers 35-34 at halftime.

2nd Half: Dayton 82, Davidson 76

• Freshman Malachi Smith ignited the Flyers’ offense with a three-pointer and an assist to Holmes II on the next possession. This created Dayton’s first lead of the half at 39-38.
• Davidson’s Hyunjung Lee scored back-to-back field goals which gave the Wildcats a four-point lead. 
• Brea drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 50-50 with 13:16 to go.
• History repeated itself after Brea hit another three to give the Flyers a 55-54 lead with 10:07 remaining.
• The layup by sophomore Toumani Camara on the following possession created the Flyers’ largest lead at 59-54 with 8:52 left in the game.
• Davidson took a timeout with 6:18 remaining after Brea’s jumper gave the Flyers a 64-62 lead.
• The Flyers came out of their timeout ready to go as they curbed the Wildcat’s offense and Holmes II made both of his free throws. Dayton extended their lead to 66-62 with 5:25 to go.
• Elvis gave the Flyers a game-high six-point lead with 3:23 to go as he drained a three. This put Dayton’s lead at 71-65.
• Davidson outscored the Flyers 11-4 to take a 76-75 lead with 1:05 left.
• Brea hit a dagger three pointer to give the Flyers a 78-76 lead with 43 seconds to go in the game.
• Starting with Brea’s clutch trey, UD scored the final seven points of the game, Elvis and Blakney each hitting a pair of free throws in the last 15 seconds of the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Dayton had three players in double digits — DaRon Holmes II (20 points), Koby Brea (18) and Kobe Elvis (11).
• The Flyers bench contributed in a big way adding 47 points compared to Davidson’s 29 bench points.
• The Flyers only turned the ball over four times, their lowest mark of the season.
• Elvis had a career-high six assists in the Flyers victory.
• Holmes II led the way with 20 points and six boards.  He also had two steals.
• The Flyers shot 55% from the field going 28-51 as well as 53% from beyond the arc, led by Brea who went 4-6 from deep.
• UD was 16-of-24 from the field (67%) in the second half.
• Malachi Smith continued to be a leader at point guard scoring nine points and dishing out six assists.
• The Flyers also took advantage of the free ones shooting 76% from the stripe led by Holmes who went 10-13 from the line
• Toumani had his second straight double-figure rebounding game, with 10.
• The win today was Coach Anthony Grant‘s 100th career win as the Flyer head coach.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers win concluded the regular season and they will head to Washington D.C. for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship.
• The tournament will start Wednesday March 9th and conclude on Sunday March 13.
• UD’s first game will be on the evening of Friday, March 11, against a team to be determined after Thursday’s games.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS