Turnovers ground Flyers
Losing record almost assured after La Salle defeat.
The first PHILADELPHIA — possession of the game Wednesday foreshadowed what the rest of the night would look like for the Dayton Flyers.
Josh Cunningham traveled at the top of the arc as he passed the ball to Jalen Crutcher. No one pressured Cunningham into the turnover. He just took an extra step and made a bad decision. There would be many more made by the Flyers, who committed 18 turnovers.
Nineteen seconds later, on La Salle’s first possession, Saul Phiri made a 3-pointer. The Explorers held the lead for the rest of the game and owned a double-digit lead for all but 22 seconds of the last 27 minutes. Dayton left Tom Gola Arena with a 71-53 loss that almost assures its first losing season since 2006.
Dayton had no fight in it in the second half, and coach Anthony Grant didn’t want to blame the mental fatigue that seems to be plaguing this team late in the season and preventing it from being competitive outside UD Arena.
“I’m not one to make excuses,” Grant said. “I think every time we step on the floor we get an opportunity to represent a program that has a lot of pride and tradition, to represent the guys that came before us when we put that uniform on. When there’s not that understand- ing and appreciation for that, it’s concerning.”
Here are four takeaways from the game:
1. Big picture: Dayton fell to 13-16 and 7-10 in the Atlantic 10 Conference with one regular-season game to play at 3 p.m. Saturday against George Washington at UD Arena. The Flyers will have to win that game and then go 3-1 in the conference tourna- ment just to finish the season at .500.
That’s an unlikely scenario considering Dayton hasn’t won three games in a row all season. In all likelihood, Dayton will suffer its first losing season since 2006 when it finished 14-17. That was also the last time Dayton lost 10 A-10 games. It hasn’t lost 11 games in conference play since 1999.
2. Shooting struggles: Dayton missed its last 11 3-pointers on Friday in an 81-56 loss at Rhode Island, and it missed its first 10 3-pointers against La Salle. Darrell Davis and Jalen Crutcher ended the drought with back-to-back 3-point- ers in the final minute of the first half, cutting La Salle’s lead to 31-23.
Dayton made 5 of 23 3-pointers (21.7 percent). In the last three games, it has made 12 of 59 (20.3 percent). Its season percentage stands at 33.8.
3. Bright spots: Trey Landers had 17 points and 10 rebounds. It was his second straight double-double. Walk-on guard Jack Wester- field didn’t score and had one rebound and one steal in 17 minutes.
“I’m proud of Trey,” Grant said. “I thought Trey brought it. It wasn’t one of our finest hours. It was easy to lay down. I thought Trey, especially in the second half, really battled and competed on both ends of the floor. He had a tough job, obviously with B.J. Johnson. I thought Jack came in and played with energy. I thought he did a good job in terms of being where he needed to be from a defensive standpoint.”
4. Dominant performance: La Salle (13-17, 7-10) has won four straight games against Dayton at Tom Gola Arena. Eight points decided the last three games. This one wasn’t close.
Johnson, one of four seniors honored before the last home game of the season for the Explorers, scored 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting. La Salle routed Dayton without its second-leading scorer, guard Pookie Powell (concussion)..
La Salle shot 54.9 percent from the field. That helped it overcome 19 turnovers.
“I thought we played absolutely great, outside of our turnovers,” coach John Giannini said.