DUKES FALL TO DAYTON
No. 7 Dayton fends off Duquesne in a late-developing A-10 thriller
It was about as unlikely as a comeback could seem for Duquesne.
No. 7 Dayton had flexed its muscles at the start of the second half. Two-time reigning A10 Player of the Week Jalen Crutcher was drilling step-back 3-pointers, national player of the year candidate Obi Toppin was throwing down dunks left and right, and the Flyers had a 19-point, 57-38 lead with 12:03 to go in the game.
Out of nowhere, though, the Dukes found something. Junior guard Tavian DunnMartin drilled two threes to pull within 13. Fifth-year senior forward Baylee Steele had a tip-in to make it 11. Duquesne chipped away some more, and a breakaway dunk for junior forward Marcus Weathers cut it to 61-57 with 7:02 to go.
In what had seemed like a blowout waiting to happen, a
back-and-forth battle broke out. The Flyers flexed again to make it an 11-point game with 3:56 left. Then, Hughes and Weathers traded buckets back and forth on a 9-0 run, and with 34 seconds to go, Duquesne trailed, 71-69.
But the comeback was unbelievable for a reason. Toppin stepped to the free throw line and drilled two free throws to restore Dayton’s 4point lead. On the ensuing possession, Duquesne turned it over with eight seconds left.
The Dukes’ miraculous win was not to be, as they fell just short, 73-69, taking their third-straight loss.
“You have to give our guys credit,” coach Keith Dambrot said. “We got smacked in the mouth, knocked down, wobbled 35 times and then came back and made it a game, which after what they’ve been through, you don’t know what you’re gonna get. Give Dayton credit. They delivered a couple knockout punches, and we didn’t get down.
“So that’s the good thing. The bad thing is we just have to be more consistent. That’s all.”
For Duquesne (15-5 overall, 5-3 A10), the question was whether or not they’d be able to hang with the high-powered Flyers (19-2, 8-0). When Crutcher and Toppin spurred things forward for the Flyers in the second half, it didn’t look like the Dukes could.
It would have been hard to foresee the kind of magic Dunn-Martin, Weathers and Hughes pulled off, combining for 50 points altogether to fuel the ultimately futile surge.
“It’s just playing more simple,” Hughes said. “I feel like we got too up tight about things. I feel like we were just forcing it at first, and then once we settled down and got those nerves out, we really played the game, I think we played the right way. We just need to figure out those minutes where we’re lacking, I think we just need to figure it out.”
The first half showed signs of what was Duquesne’s undoing.
Dayton came into the game with the second-highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 83.2 points per game on the season. It came out guns blazing, shooting 64% from the field in the first half and hitting 4-of-7 3-pointers.
Duquesne’s saving grace was that it was able to force the Flyers to turn the ball over seven times in the opening frame. That was enough to keep the game within reach, but the Dukes still trailed heading into the half, 38-30.
Dayton didn’t really slow down from that torrent shooting pace, finishing 59.2% from the field and 44.4% from three.
Those are the stats Duquesne may rue, because for all the heart it may have shown, the effort still wasn’t enough. If it had been, it would have been by far the Dukes’ biggest win in recent memory. But it wasn’t.
“Just because you play close doesn’t mean you’re ready to take the next step,” Dambrot said. “We played close, but what does that mean? We’ll find out what it means the next game, the next game and the next game. But we played better than we did the last two games . ... We just have to be more consistent.”