2011 Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament: A-10 Semifinals

Dayton hangs on to beat Saint Joseph's

The semifinal matchup between nine-seed Dayton and twelve-seed Saint Joseph's wasn't predicted by many, providing the raised eyebrows in Atlantic City and nervous stares from fans of bubble teams across the nation. And for all the individual talents on Brian Gregory's team they'd disappointed for much of the season. That will all be forgotten if the Flyers were able to pick up one more win on Sunday as they advanced to the title game with a 64-61 victory. Chris Johnson led the way with 19 points and Chris Wright added 17 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for Dayton, who will play Richmond in tomorrow's final.

Langston Galloway led the Hawks with 16 points and Idris Hilliard added 15 and seven rebounds, but despite the loss Saint Joseph's did not play like a team that lost 21 games on the season in this tournament. Dayton led by 13 with 9:24 remaining in the game but the Hawks refused to give up, fighting to within three points by the final horn. But when Galloway's desperation heave missed to the left their hopes of an improbable run to the NCAA Tournament were dashed.

"This week has been an experience for them, and a positive experience," said head coach Phil Martelli of his Hawks. "Even the hurt that they have right now can be a positive because it's a shared hurt. It's not an individual hurt."

Dayton looked the fresher team at the start, jumping out to a 17-6 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half. But the Hawks came back with six unanswered points to cut the deficit to five less than two minutes later, and they were able to hang around despite the Flyers pushing their lead back out to 11 points. Saint Joseph's scored five of the final six points of the half to cut Dayton's lead to 28-24 at the half. The Flyers outscored the Hawks 16-10 in the paint and 6-0 in fast-break points as they took the lead into the break.

Saint Joseph's took the lead less than two minutes into the second half thanks in large part to Galloway, who had a hand in the Hawks' first eight points (scored five, assisted on three). But a Wright three-point play gave Dayton a 33-32 lead, and they did a good job defensively during the stretch that would result in their largest lead of the game. Trailing by 11 with 5:33 to go, Saint Joseph's fought back to within two points with nine seconds remaining.

After a Josh Parker free throw Charoy Bentley turned the basketball over. However the Hawks weren't dead as they stole the ensuing inbounds pass, giving them one last shot at overtime. Galloway's attempt hit the left side of the rim and bounded away, giving Dayton a shot at their first A-10 title since 2003.

2011 Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Tournament - Semifinal Recap

Flyers Continue March to A-10 Final