DAYTON — Kobe Elvis could barely fight back the tears.
Teammate Koby Brea, the nation’s best 3-point field goal shooter, was there to tap him on the side and was moved as well.
And head coach Anthony Grant, not one for hyperbole, called Friday’s 91-86 overtime win against VCU one of the grittiest wins he can recall in his 30-plus years of coaching.
The No. 25 Dayton Flyers showed Friday night the kind of resilience that teams with big March dreams possess.
Already without Malachi Smith (torn lateral meniscus, right knee) for the season, they lost point guard Javon Bennett to a thumb injury this week. They lost last Friday in Chicago to Loyola. The team expected to win the A-10 regular season title was suddenly the third seed in the conference.
They were in the Top 20 for most of the last two months but things were slipping. They went to St. Louis and exploded to reach the century mark in a 100-83 win. But Friday was different.
VCU entered the game a very respectable 19-11 and 11-6 in the conference. Dayton was in danger of falling back into bubble status if they lost their final home game of the season entering the A-10 tournament.
VCU came out on fire and couldn’t miss from deep. They took a 26-9 lead early on the strength of eight threes. Suddenly the Flyers, who had won all 14 previous home games, were in deep trouble.
With no production all night (45 minutes) from the bench, the Flyers had to rely on Elvis, Brea, DaRon Holmes II, Enoch Cheeks and Nate Santos for all 91 points Friday.
They cut lead to seven, 38-31, at the half. And then they continued the climb up the mountain in the second half, taking their first lead of the game, 64-62, on a Santos three with 5:57 remaining.
But VCU was not going anywhere. The Rams led 70-66 with 2:47 left. The sellout crowd was getting worried that the 14-game win home win streak and 12-year Senior Night streak was in serious jeopardy.
But Cheeks and Brea came up with the final two buckets of regulation.
In overtime, Dayton was down 80-77 with just 81 seconds left. Then Elvis took over with consecutive threes that sent UD Arena into pandemonium. The Flyers would eventually scratch and claw to the finish line in one of the most heart-stopping games of the year in college basketball.
Nate Santos’s first second half points – a 3 – gives UD first lead of game 64-62 with 5:48 left. UD Arena explodes. pic.twitter.com/j5rkLPSlci
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) March 9, 2024
Grant said after the game they’re hopeful to get Bennett, their top point guard, back in time for the tournament, if not the A-10 tourney next week in Brooklyn. It would certainly help matters as the Flyers left just about everything on the floor Friday night.
“It meant everything,” said the junior Elvis, who finished with 15 points. “It was the closing of what’s felt like the longest season ever. These past three years, just reflecting and getting choked up for real. (Just) emotional about how much we just had to overcome and being able to make history and be undefeated at home. Just to be able to be out there with my brothers (for what) might be the last time we’re all out there together. I can’t be more grateful for that situation.”
Brea, whose eyes were red from tears after, finished with 18, including four threes. The win was great. The emotion and satisfaction of finally beating nemesis VCU after was even greater.
“That’s the greatest thing in the world,” Brea said. “There’s always always a battle against them. We always get their best, they always get our best as a rivalry. When we were down 17, we just found a way to really just come close together and just figure it out and have each other’s backs and understand that’s a 40-minute game. We just found a way. We’ve done it before.”
Grant was passionate in his post-game message Friday.
“I’ll tell you what I told the team, I’m in all of our group. This is a special group. What these guys have had to persevere through all year. The pride they showed, the character they’ve shown, the ups and downs, through the good, the bad, the adversity, the prosperity, through the all of it.
“And then to come out with VCU, take my hat off to him they played an outstanding game. Outstanding. To be down 17 and never waver. I’ve been doing this for a long time. And that’s about as gritty of a performance that I’ve seen in my whatever 30-plus years of coaching. So, I’m in awe of our guys. That was that was special. And it was a group effort.”
If you wanted an emotional primer for what March has in store, Friday night at UD Arena was it. And the Flyers could be that special team that makes the Madness all the more riveting.
