RICHMOND, Va. – The seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers advacned to the Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals with an 84-72 victory Thursday afternoon over 10th-seeded Rhode Island at VCU’s Siegel Center.
The victory serves as the first win for the Flyers in Atlantic 10 Championship play since 2016.
Ibi Watson scored a season high with his 25 points.
“It felt good to hit my shots, I’ve just got to give credit to my teammates for putting me in positions to succeed,” Watson said. “I felt good in warmups and just stepped into shots with confidence. I tried to shoot the shots that I work on every day and they dropped tonight.”
Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First Team selection Jalen Crutcher added 14 points while also contributing seven assists. Freshman Mustapha Amzil also earned 14 points.
“Great respect for Rhode Island, they played a heck of a game,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “We knew today would be a battle and we would need to be at our best. They have depth, they have speed and one of the best players in the country. I thought in the second half, our guys were able to string together some offensive possessions that created separation.”
Rhode Island was led by Malik Martin’s 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Martin started in place of senior Jeremy Sheppard who was injured in the team’s final regular-season contest.
“I really just wanted to do this for the seniors Fatts (Russell) and Shep(pard),” said Martin. “Obviously it wasn’t the year that we really wanted but every night I tried to give it my all. I’ve got a lot of love for these guys. It was a rough game, but I will remember this feeling, it’s not a good one.”
Antwan Walker added 13 points. Ishmael Leggett pieced together 10 points, as did Allen Betrand before he was taken off the court due to injury. Fatts Russell flirted with a triple double, but finished with eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
“It’s been a long, tough year for the Rhode Island Rams,” Rhode Island coach David Cox said. “One thing needs to be known, our players deserve a lot of credit for all they endured on and off the court. I am proud with the way our guys fought tonight. Dayton was the better team tonight, Anthony (Grant) coached better. I’m so proud of the resiliency these guys have shown time in and time out. It’s not easy to lose, it’s not easy to end a season like this.”
Though it was a slow start for both teams, it was Dayton which scored the opening five points. Dayton then followed this by going scoreless for a 3:50 stretch.
Despite that basket, it was in the middle of an 11-2 run which saw Rhode Island take a four-point advantage.
Dayton responded with six points of its own, with Watson converting one of his six three-point shots which placed the Flyers back in front.
That advantage did not last long as Rhode Island countered with five points and a D.J. Johnson triple placed the Rams ahead by three points.
As the teams went back-and-forth seeking momentum, Watson and R.J. Blakney buried trifectas in consecutive possessions allowing Dayton to reclaim the upper hand.
Not to be outdone, Rhode Island used a 5-0 run late in the first half with Betrand scoring five points creating a one-point affair.
Dayton closed the half on an 8-0 run with Crutcher making another end-of-half shot, this time a three-point basket placing the Flyers in the driver’s seat by nine points.
“That was big, definitely a momentum swing for us,” Crutcher said. “We just knew that we had to come out in the second half and keep going.”
In the second half, Rhode Island began chopping away at the lead, with Betrand nailing a three-point basket, cutting Dayton’s advantage, which was 10 early in the period, down to one.
During the team’s second regular-season meeting, which Rhode Island won 91-89 in double overtime, Dayton led by 18 points with 9:44 remaining, but went on to lose that game.
It was clear that in the huddle, that result was mentioned as Dayton created the necessary separation once again.
On Dayton’s first possession after Betrand’s triple, Crutcher fed Zimi Nwokeji who converted a layup. He was fouled on the play by Makhel Mitchell, who was disqualified from the game as that was his fifth foul.
With Rhode Island now without Mitchell in addition to Sheppard, Dayton went on a 15-3 run.
“We understood that no lead is safe, especially to that team,” said Watson. “They have really dynamic guards, so we just tried to lock in as long as we could and really try to put together 40 minutes to win.”
Betrand also departed the game during this run as he went down with an apparent knee injury and did not return.
From that point forward, with this advantage, Dayton’s lead was double digits for the overwhelming majority of the contest.
Dayton will next face second-seeded VCU Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. The contest will be carried on NBCSN at be played at the Siegel Center. VCU won both regular-season meetings.