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Dayton loses a key game and a key player in a matter of hours
Dayton suffered two painful losses Saturday afternoon.
Only hours after learning they’ll be without maybe their top big men for at least the next three months, the Flyers fell 61-57 at home against 17th-ranked Saint Mary’s after a furious last-ditch comeback fell just short.
Dayton trailed by 14 points with just over three minutes to go before its aggressive defensive pressure began to disrupt the Gaels and tighten the gap. Saint Mary’s coughed up the ball six times in the final three minutes and missed a couple of critical free throws, a wobbly finish that nearly ended in disaster.
When Saint Mary’s failed to cleanly inbound the ball while clinging to a two-point lead with 15 seconds to go, it appeared Dayton would have a chance to either tie the game in regulation or perhaps even win it with a 3-pointer. The Flyers instead blew their chance as Xeyrius Williams recklessly drove to the basket and was called for charging, setting the stage for Gaels point guard Emmett Naar to ice the game with a pair of free throws at the other end.
Saint Mary’s had been by far the better team for the game’s first 37 minutes. Forward Calvin Hermanson scored a team-high 16 points and center Jock Landale had 15 points and 14 boards as the Gaels built a 13-point halftime lead and extended it to as many as 20 midway through the second half.
A big reason Dayton struggled was a lack of interior scoring and an inability to prevent Saint Mary’s from securing second-chance opportunities on the offensive glass. It’s no surprise that the Flyers would be susceptible in those areas considering how shorthanded their frontcourt was.
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 three games with a knee injury and a thigh contusion. Then on Tuesday, Bradley transfer Josh Cunningham suffered a serious ankle injury when his left leg folded underneath him as landed after throwing down a game-clinching dunk.
Tests revealed Saturday that Cunningham’s ankle injury will require surgery to repair a torn ligament. He’s expected to miss about three months, which would late February is the soonest he could return and there’s a good chance he might opt to seek a medical redshirt this season instead.
Forwards Sam Miller and Ryan Mikesell started for Dayton, but both struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter and were ineffective on the glass. The Flyers were too reliant on guards Charles Cooke (19 points) and Scoochie Smith (16) for offense and lacked credible frontcourt depth.
The good news for Dayton is that Pollard’s return will alleviate the need for a third scorer. The bad news for the Flyers is that Cunningham’s absence may be felt all season defensively and on the boards.
Dayton has been known to weather adversity well under Archie Miller, and to live up to preseason expectations that they’ll contend for the Atlantic 10 title this season, the Flyers will have to do it again.
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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!
