Flyers keeping fans in suspense during dramatic season

Dayton goes 1-1 in back-to-back one-point games.

— Whether you’re DAYTON a fan who thinks the Dayton Flyers have exceeded expectations in 2018-19, met them or fell short, you can’t argue they haven’t been interesting.

Dayton has played 13 Atlantic 10 Conference games. Eight have featured amazing comebacks, startling collapses or thrilling finishes — and sometimes all three.

The Flyers (17-9, 9-4) have played two straight one-point games, and there’s no doubt experiencing so many close games paid off Tuesday in a 74-73 victory at Davidson.

Jalen Crutcher penetrated the defense and found Josh Cunningham under the basket with 2.2 seconds to play. The Wildcats tied the game with 11 seconds to play, and just like four days earlier in a 69-68 loss to Virginia Commonwealth at UD Arena, coach Anthony Grant didn’t call a timeout to set up a play.

“With a tie score and 11 seconds, we wanted to play through,” Grant said. “Worstcase scenario, I trust Jalen with the ball to make a good decision, and he was able to find Josh.”

Dayton has won five of the eight A-10 games decided by six points or fewer. Here’s a look back at the plays or runs that defined those:

Jan. 9: Dayton 72, George Washington 66

The Flyers trailed by 22 points in the first half. Jordan Davis led the comeback by scoring 20 of his 25 points in the second half.

Jan. 13: Dayton 72, Massachusetts 67

Crutcher made a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 70 seconds to play. It was Dayton’s first field goal in more than eight minutes.

Jan. 16: Virginia Commonwealth 76, Dayton 71

The Flyers overcame an 11-point deficit in the first half and led for most of the second half. VCU guard Marcus Evans hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 33 seconds to play. VCU outscored Dayton 11-2 in the final four minutes, and Dayton’s only basket in that span came in the final seconds with the game decided.

Jan. 19: Dayton 89, St. Bonaventure 86 (2 OT)

Dayton trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half and rallied from an eightpoint deficit in the final 4:31 to get the game to overtime. Five points by Davis in the final 65 seconds of the second overtime lifted Dayton to a victory in Olean, N.Y.

Jan. 23: George Mason 67, Dayton 63

The Patriots outscored Dayton 7-0 in the last 2:26. Davis missed a game-tying shot with 19 seconds left, and then Crutcher missed a go-ahead 3-pointer.

Feb. 2: Dayton 68, Duquesne 64

The Flyers trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half and by as many as 11 in the second half. Crutcher put Dayton ahead for good on a jump shot with 1:36 to play. Dayton outscored the Dukes 4-0 in the last 1:59.

Feb. 16: VCU 69, Dayton 68

Dayton rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half only to lose on another shot by Evans, who scored the go-ahead layup with six seconds left. That negated a go-ahead 3-pointer by Davis with 1:06 remaining and another go-ahead basket by Toppin with 15 seconds left. Davis had a layup blocked in the final seconds.

Feb. 19: Dayton 74, Davidson 73

It was almost the exact opposite of the game played three days earlier as this time Dayton blew the big lead in the second half (63-44 with 9:38 left) only to win in the final seconds.

Alumni note: Jordan Sibert could become the first player from Dayton’s 2014 Elite Eight team to play in the NBA after signing a 10-day contract with the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.

He averaged 15.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 34 games with the Erie Bayhawks in the NBA G League.