Dayton forward suffers serious injury on game-sealing dunk

Dayton experienced euphoria and devastation all in one play Tuesday afternoon when forward Josh Cunningham suffered a potentially serious injury on a game-clinching dunk.

With the Flyers leading Alabama by two and the final seconds of the second half melting away, Cunningham went up for a transition dunk, absorbed heavy contact from Alabama’s Ar’Mond Davis and threw down a soaring one-handed slam. Cunningham’s left leg folded underneath him awkwardly when he landed, leaving him writhing in pain on the floor clutching his lower left leg.

Dayton trainers carried Cunningham to the locker room, where he remained for the final four seconds of the Flyers’ 77-72 road win. Archie Miller said after the game that the Flyers were concerned about both Cunningham’s left knee and ankle.

“It’s uncertain what it is exactly, but we could be looking at being without him for some time,” Miller added.

Losing Cunningham would be a massive blow to a Dayton team that’s already short-handed in the frontcourt. Center Steve McElvene tragically died during the offseason, forward Kostas Antetokounmpo was ruled ineligible to play this season and starting forward Kendall Pollard has missed Dayton’s first two games with a knee injury and a thigh contusion.

Dayton had been expected to contend for the Atlantic 10 title this season prior to the injury to Cunningham. The Flyers returned four starters from last year’s NCAA tournament team including standout guards Charles Cooke and Scoochie Smith.

In its road win at Alabama, the Flyers certainly looked the part of an Atlantic 10 contender. Smith led the Flyers with 20 points, while Cooke added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Cunningham had 12 points and three rebounds in 15 foul-plagued minutes prior to the injury.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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