DAYTON — There is still time for the Dayton Flyers to prove to the world – and the NCAA selection committee – that they are a tournament-worthy team.
The team that caught fire last spring and earned a berth in the Madness has spent the better part of the last three weeks trying to find their identity and get healthy.
Friday night, before another capacity crowd at UD Arena, the Flyers shot out to a 30-11 lead and held on for dear life in the second half to beat back the St. Joe’s Hawks, 77-72, in an Atlantic 10 matchup.
Nate Santos scored 22 points and Malachi Smith added 12 in a win that improved Dayton to 14-6 and 4-3 in the A-10. It was the third straight win for the Flyers and pushed them over .500 in a conference that usually gets no more than two berths in the field of 68. The Flyers have won three straight after dropping their first three games of the month and falling off tournament projections.
After Friday’s win, the Flyers are 66th in Net Rankings and 61st in KenPom rankings. In both cases, the Flyers are the second-ranked Atlantic 10 team behind VCU.
The Flyers know they have a long way to go before they can even think about the tournament so building their momentum one game at a time is the only path forward.
Friday night they raced out to leads of 12-2, 25-6 and 30-11 before coasting to a 39-26 halftime lead. Yes, they were outscored 46-38 by the Hawks and St. Joe’s closed the game to three points twice but Dayton didn’t blink.
Dayton coach Anthony Grant knew the Hawks would make a run and they did. The Flyers never did give up the lead. It was the kind of effort in closing out a game that the Flyers will have to give for the rest of the season, starting with a difficult two-game road trip coming up next week when they travel to St. Bonaventure and Saint Louis to close out January.
The Flyers have 11 games remaining before the A-10 tournament. There’s plenty of opportunity for the Flyers to show the committee that they are a team of deserving to play on the biggest stage in March.
