Shorthanded Flyers lean on defense to defeat George Washington

(Photo via daytonmbb Instagram)

Gabriel Ward | Sports Editor

The University of Dayton men’s basketball team defeated the George Washington Revolutionaries 79-72 on Tuesday night in an Atlantic 10 matchup at UD Arena. It was the final game for the Flyers before students return to campus from winter break.

Both offenses struggled early as neither team could find a rhythm; it took until the 12:39 mark in the game before a team reached double digits when George Washington’s Garrett Johnson converted a pair of free throws to make the score 11-5, Revolutionaries in front. 

The Flyers were once again missing two of their key big men, with Malcolm Thomas and Amael L’Etang battling lower-body injuries. The lack of bigs was evident in the first half, with George Washington able to grab 21 first-half rebounds compared to Dayton’s 13.

The lack of Dayton’s first-half offense was reflected in Javon Bennett, who struggled early for the Flyers. Bennett, who is averaging 16.6 points per game for UD, was held to just two points in the first half, both free throws after George Washington’s Tyrone Marshall was assessed a technical foul. Those free throws began an important stretch for the Flyers as Bennett cut the Revolutionaries’ lead to 27-20. After the technical foul free throw attempts, Jaiun Simon would make a layup to cut further into the deficit and bring the Flyers within five with 4:15 remaining in the first half. Keonte Jones would continue the Dayton offensive momentum as, after a Bennett miss, he converted a put-back dunk with 2:14 remaining in the half to make the score 30-24, George Washington ahead. With 1:45 remaining, Jones would also convert two free throws to make it 32-26. 

In the final minute of the half, George Washington’s Tre Dinkins would hit a three-point shot, and Simon would convert two free throws for the Flyers. The half would end with the Revolutionaries ahead 35-30.

The Flyers came out of the locker room hot. After George Washington’s Christian Jones converted a free throw for the first point of the half, Dayton went on a 7-0 run with a Bennett three-point shot, a Jones layup, and a De’Shayne Montgomery dunk to quickly grab a 37-36 lead. 

With 14:28 remaining in the half, Dayton’s Jordan Derkack appeared to turn his ankle. After being subbed out of the game, he went into the locker room. Derkack would quickly appear back on the bench for Dayton and be subbed back into the game with 9:34 remaining. 

The Flyers’ defense was the story of the game; after taking a 50-49 lead thanks to a Bryce Heard layup, Dayton forced their third 10-second violation of the game. The defense led to offense for Dayton when Bennett capitalized on the violation by making a three-point shot to extend the Dayton lead to four. 

A Montgomery dunk with 4:05 remaining in the game would push Dayton’s lead to eight points, and despite George Washington cutting their deficit to two after Rafael Castro made two free throws with 2:08 remaining, Dayton would hold on for a 79-72 victory.

The win improved Dayton to 12-4 overall and 3-0 in conference play. For George Washington, the loss dropped them to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference. 

Dayton’s next matchup will be on Jan. 13, when they head to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.