Rhode Island tops Dayton 81-76 in overtime
(Photo via Carson Caprella)
Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor
DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team lost to the Rhode Island Rams 81-76 on Tuesday night at UD Arena in an Atlantic 10 matchup. Despite it being 12 degrees outside at tipoff, the fans packed UD Arena as 13,407 fans were in attendance. The Flyers were once again without Jordan Derkack, who has been sidelined with a lower-body injury that occurred in the Flyers’ Jan. 6 game against George Washington.
The first five minutes of the game were slow as neither team could get into a rhythm. An Amael L’Etang three-pointer and a De’Shayne Montgomery layup was the only offense that the Flyers could generate early. Javon Bennett found himself on the scoresheet after he split a pair of free throws to make it 8-6 Rhode Island ahead with 15:12 remaining in the first half.
Damon Friery, Jacob Conner, and Malcolm Thomas checked in to the game during the Bennett free throws and made an immediate impact. With 13:24 left in the half, Friery converted on a three-point shot, and with 12:53 remaining, Conner threw down a dunk while drawing a foul. Despite missing the free throw, the Flyers took the lead, 11-9. 33 seconds later, Jacob stole the ball and slammed down another dunk to extend the Flyers’ lead.
The story of the first half was Rhode Island’s free-throw shooting. Despite shooting free throws at a 72.5 percent mark this season, putting them at ninth in the A10, the Rams went 9-16 from the line in the first half. On Rhode Island’s sixth missed free throw, UD Arena erupted in cheers as the fans got their free Lee’s Chicken.
Dayton’s press was a large factor in the first half, as the Flyers were able to force three first-half 10-second violations on Rhode Island. Overall, the Flyers forced seven turnovers in the half and converted those into nine points.
Late in the half, Rhode Island’s Jahmere Tripp grabbed a rebound and was fouled at the buzzer by Jaiun Simon. After a review, it was decided that there were 0.2 seconds on the game clock when the foul occurred. Tripp split the pair of free throws, making the score 39-31, Dayton ahead at the half.
The second half was back-and-forth as Rhode Island scored four straight points to open the half, followed by a Dayton 5-0 run. The Flyers seemed to have gained control with 12:08 remaining in the half as Myles Corey fouled Montgomery. The foul on Corey was the Rams’ sixth foul in the first eight minutes of the half, and Montgomery converted both shots to put the Flyers up 47-41.
The Rams continued to stay within reach of the Flyers, and then, with 8:21 remaining, Rhode Island began a 12-2 run that lasted until 5:00 remaining. During that stretch, Rhode Island’s Keeyan Itejere made two free throws, Alex Crawford and Myles Corey each converted a 3-point shot, and then both Tyler Cochran and RJ Johnson scored layups. At the end of the run, the Rams grabbed their first lead since it was 8-6 just under 5 minutes into the game.
The remainder of regulation was back and forth, as Rhode Island was up two with eight seconds left; L’Etang made a layup to tie the game at 64. Rhode Island turned the ball over out of bounds with two seconds left. On the ensuing Dayton inbounds pass, Cochran intercepted Conner’s pass but missed the half-court heave. The game went into overtime tied at 64.
The Rams had control all throughout overtime, scoring the first four points, and two free throws by Johnson with 25 seconds left extended their lead to six at 77-71. Dayton tried to rally late as Simon hit a 3-point shot with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to cut the deficit to three. But Rhode Island converted its free throws in the final seconds, and a defensive stand with seven seconds left sealed it as Rhode Island won 81-76 in overtime.
With the loss, Dayton falls to 14-7 overall and 5-3 in conference play. For the Rams, the win brings them to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in conference play. Dayton will return to the court when they head to Chaifetz Arena to face off with the Saint Louis Billikens. Saint Louis is currently 20-1 and ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. and can be seen on CBS Sports Network.