Montgomery scores 27 as Dayton tops ETSU
(Photo via @daytonmbb Instagram)
Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton’s men’s basketball team defeated the East Tennessee State Buccaneers 88-71 on Tuesday night at University of Dayton Arena in front of 13,407 fans. The game was the first game back at home for the Flyers since their runner-up finish at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla. last week.
The first half was the De’Shayne Montgomery show; his 17 points led all scorers in the first half. From 11:57 to 8:52 remaining in the half, Montgomery had 10 of the Flyers’ previous 14 points; that stretch included 6 straight free throws and two layups, forcing ETSU to use a timeout.
Despite the Montgomery offensive performance, the Buccaneers continued to fight back. Blake Barkley contributed 14 points for ETSU, and Brian Taylor scored 10 of his own. ETSU was able to grab eight first-half offensive rebounds and turn those into eight second-chance points.
Montgomery provided the Flyers with some more offense right before the half, as after Barkley converted two free throws, Montgomery would go coast to coast and hit a layup at the buzzer to bring the score to 46-38 at the half.
In the second half, the Flyers continued to cruise. UD opened the half with eleven straight points before ETSU’s Cam Morris would convert a free throw with 14:33 remaining in the game to make the score 57-39.
ETSU would show some fight, however. The Morris free throw would be the first points of a Buccaneers 7-0 run, which shrank the Dayton lead to 57-45 and caused Dayton to call a timeout. The timeout turned out to be successful, and the Flyers returned the favor with a 9-0 run of their own to stretch the lead to 66-45, the largest lead of the entire game for either team.
Late in the game, after Dayton’s Jordan Derkack and ETSU’s Brian Taylor came together for a jump ball, after the whistle, neither player would let go of the basketball, forcing the officials to come in and separate the two. The play would not result in any technical fouls, and the game resumed after a media timeout.
Despite the game being out of reach, Dayton kept their starters in for the final minutes of the 88-71 win. In the postgame press conference, Dayton Head Coach Anthony Grant was asked why he kept his starters in for as long as he did. He replied that he “didn’t even pay attention to starters or not” and added that “it was more of a respect for their team and what they’re capable of and what I’ve seen on film.”
When asked more specifically about whether he thinks about the margin of victory’s impact on the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), he replied with, “Of course, it has to be, right? Because that’s the reality of the sport.
Dayton will return to action Saturday, Dec. 6, at noon when they face the Virginia Cavaliers at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. The game can be seen on ESPN2. Despite the game being at a neutral site, there is expected to be a heavy UVA crowd, as the Cavaliers football team will play in the ACC Championship Game later that night, also in Charlotte.