Flyers Can’t Overcome Shooting Woes, Fall to Cincinnati 74-62
(Photo via @DaytonMBB X)
Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor
CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Dayton Flyers fell to the Cincinnati Bearcats 74-62 Tuesday night, Nov. 11, at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game was not only on Veterans Day but was also the Twyman-Stokes Classic, which UC hosts each year in honor of former Cincinnati Royals forward Maurice Stokes, who was left paralyzed after an injury in a 1958 NBA game, and his teammate, former Royals and Bearcats forward Jack Twyman, who would become Stokes’s legal guardian at age 23 following the injury.
The Bearcats were out of the gates running. UC got off to a 15-4 lead at the 14:53 mark of the first half with help from a 5-7 shooting start. After a Tyler McKinley dunk, Flyers coach Anthony Grant was forced to use a timeout.
Cincinnati would grow its lead to 16, the largest of the game for either team, with 8:56 remaining in the first half. After this, the Flyers’ defense would pick up the pressure, helping them to an 11-2 run, bringing the score to 29-22 with 1:11 remaining.
The moment of the first half would come with 30 seconds left. After a Derkack drive, he would draw a foul from Bearcats forward Baba Miller, and after the whistle, the two would tangle up. The referees would check the monitor and call the play both a common foul on Miller and a dead-ball contact technical foul on Miller. Derkack would convert the common foul free throws, and Javon would make both of the technical foul free throws, making the game 32-26, Cincinnati ahead.
On the other end of the court, Sencire Harris would draw a foul and split the pair of free throws with 11 seconds left. That would be the last point of the half, and the teams would enter the locker room with Cincinnati leading 33-26.
The Bearcats would control the second half, and despite UD cutting the lead to two after a De’Shayne Montgomery and-one, followed by a Derkack steal and a Montgomery dunk, UC would respond with some offense of their own. The turning point of the game would come by way of a 7-0 Bearcats run, which was fueled by a Miller putback and translation layup, followed up by a Day Day Thomas three-point shot for Cincinnati, bringing the score to 55-46 with 8:23 remaining.
Dayton would never be able to bring the score even, and Cincinnati would bring their lead up to 15 thanks to a Shon Abaev free throw with 3:10 remaining.
As a team, the Flyers shot 7.69% from three, as only Amaël L’Etang and Javon Bennett would each connect once from beyond the arc.
On the Flyers’ shooting woes, Coach Anthony Grant stated in the post-game press conference, “I want us taking good shots, you know. I think we have to learn how to play to our strengths better.” He also noted that “I think we’re a better shooting team than 2-26.”
Dayton (2-1) will return to the floor Saturday, Nov. 15, when they take on Bethune-Cookman (1-2) at UD Arena. BC-U opened the season with a 95-90 overtime loss at 20th-ranked Auburn, but then lost 101-61 on the road at Miami (FL) before defeating Coastal Georgia 101-60 in their home opener.
Tip-off for UD vs. BC-U is at 7:30 p.m. and will be aired on WHIO-TV as well as ESPN+.
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