Derkack committed to Dayton 11 months in the past. He adopted the Flyers the final two seasons due to his connection to Bennett — they performed collectively as freshmen at Merrimack — however did he have any concept how a lot the Flyers have struggled in this postseason occasion through the years?
“Javon has kind of told me,” Derkack mentioned, “in those late nights in the hotel, just talking.”
“Do you have any idea how long it has been since Dayton won the tournament?,” he was requested.
“No idea,” Derkack mentioned. “I know (Anthony Grant) has never won the tournament.”
The reply, because the Flyer Faithful know nicely, is 23 years. Dayton received the occasion in 2003 at UD Arena. It has reached the championship sport thrice since (2011, 2015 and 2023) below three totally different coaches (Brian Gregory, Archie Miller and Anthony Grant) and misplaced every time. It has the longest present drought of any former champion.
After No. 4 seed Dayton (22-10) beat No. 13 St. Bonaventure (17-17) in the quarterfinals, sustaining the lead for the final 12 minutes with out having greater than a six-point benefit, the Flyers are two wins away from that elusive championship.
“I’m just excited for the Dayton community and the Dayton coaches,” Derkack mentioned. “Javon’s been here for three years, and this is his first (A-10 tournament victory), so I’m happy for him.”
Bennett skilled losses to Duquesne and Saint Joseph’s in the quarterfinals in his first two seasons at Dayton. The Flyers averted that destiny Friday and ended a three-game A-10 event dropping streak that began with a 68-56 loss to Virginia Commonwealth in the 2023 championship.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Bennett mentioned. “You come in every year trying to play as far as you can in March. Just being able to win and do it with this group of guys with what we’ve been through this season, it means a lot.”
For St. Bonaventure, which fell in need of changing into the lowest-seeded staff to achieve the semifinals, the loss meant the top of Mark Schmidt’s 19-year run as head coach. He introduced Saturday he would retire after the 2025-26 season.
“Hat’s off to St. Bonaventure,” Grant mentioned. “It was a heck of a fight. Coach Schmidt, obviously in my opinion, is one of the best coaches in the country. It’s been an honor to be able to compete against his teams for the last nine years. His career and what he’s been able to do at St. Bonaventure will speak for itself.”
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s thirty second sport:
1: The victory units up a rematch with Saint Louis: Dayton will play the No. 1 seed Billikens (28-4) at 1 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The sport will air on the CBS Sports Network.
Saint Louis rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat No. 9 seed George Washington 88-81 in the primary quarterfinal Friday.
Saint Louis blew a nine-point lead of its personal in the ultimate 5 minutes however outscored George Washington 10-2 in the ultimate 90 seconds after George Washington took a 79-78 lead on a 3-point play by Rafael Castro with 1 minute, 47 seconds remaining.
“They were able to get a hard-fought win today,” Grant mentioned. “We were able to get a hard-fought win today. So we’ve got to be able to get our guys to focus on the next thing and put this behind us.”
Dayton and Saint Louis cut up two video games in the common season. Saint Louis routed Dayton 102-71 in St. Louis on Jan. 30. Dayton constructed a 25-point lead in opposition to the Billikens at UD Arena on Feb. 24 after which coasted to a 77-62 victory.
Dayton is 1-3 in opposition to Saint Louis in the A-10 event. The final time they performed in the 2019 quarterfinals, Saint Louis won 64-55 on its technique to its most up-to-date A-10 event championship.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2: Bennett carried the Dayton offense: He scored 27 factors on 8-of-12 capturing. He made 6 of 10 3-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws.
Bennett made 4 of 6 3s in the primary half, lifting Dayton to a 30-27 halftime lead.
“He was massive for us tonight, especially in the first half, just keeping us alive,” Derkack mentioned. “We were in a little bit of a rough patch offensively early in the first half.”
Bennett fell one level in need of tying the best factors whole by a Flyer in the A-10 event since at the least 2005.
Daron Holmes II scored 28 factors as soon as in the 2022 event and once more in 2023. Toumani Camara additionally had a 28-point efficiency in 2023.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3: Derkack’s skill to get to the free-throw line saved Dayton once more: He scored 15 factors and made 10 of 12 free throws.
In the ultimate 5 minutes, Derkack made 7 of 8 free throws. It was an analogous story two video games earlier in a 68-66 victory at Richmond when Derkack scored the final 5 factors of the sport with three of them coming on the line. In a 72-70 victory in opposition to St. Bonaventure at UD Arena on Feb. 9, Derkack made 12 of 15 free throws.
The St. Bonaventure gamers knew what Derkack was making an attempt to do. He ranks second in the nation in free-throw fee, which measures a participant’s skill to get to the road.
At one level in the primary half, gamers on the finish of the St. Bonaventure bench yelled at their teammates, “Don’t jump,” when Derkack bought the ball in the paint. He nonetheless drew a foul.
“When I’m in the game, all I can really think about is trying to win,” Derkack mentioned. “Coach always preaches, ‘Let’s figure out a way to win this game.’ In this case, I thought that getting fouled and getting to the free-throw line was going to be the best possible situation for us to win.”
NEXT GAME
Who: No. 4 seed Dayton vs. No. 1 seed Saint Louis
When: 1 p.m., Saturday
Where: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh
What: A-10 event semifinals
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
