Flyers Fall to GW, Prepare for A-10 Tournament

By: Andrew Wong – Staff Writer

The Dayton men’s basketball team saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end Friday night after losing at George Washington by a score of 87-81.

While Dayton has already notched the Atlantic 10 regular season championship and the top seed going into the A-10 Tournament, the loss was a disappointing finish to the regular season.

Flyer fans decked in red made their presence known with “Let’s Go UD” chants, but they couldn’t stop the hot shooting by George Washington. The Colonials started the game by shooting 12-for-13 from the field and led by as many as 19 points.

Kendall Pollard did as much as he could to cut down the deficit by posting back-to-back three-point plays, but the Flyers simply couldn’t contain the hot-shooting by GW and fell behind 50-33 to end the first half.

The 50 first-half points allowed by the Flyers are the most since 2009, when they allowed 52 at Rhode Island.

The second half saw much of the same shooting for GW, but Xeryius Williams and the Flyers were able to light it up from behind the arc. Williams hit five three-pointers in the second half and finished the game with 17 points, shooting 5-for-8 behind the arc. Defense improved in the second half, but missed opportunities and free throws cost the Flyers the game.

Notably, UD shot just 17-for-31 from the free-throw line (54.8%), and those missed points were a deciding factor down the stretch in the six-point loss.

The Flyers fall to 24-6 (15-3 A-10) and will play in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament on Friday.

Photo Courtesy by Andrew Wong