2011 Dayton Flyers Basketball: Dayton vs Duquesne

Ron Everhart's Duquesne Dukes were in a tough spot with regards to making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, thanks to an RPI of 76 and a strength of schedule ranking of 124 ( realtimerpi.com). And things became even more difficult on Saturday afternoon as they fell 64-63 at Dayton. Devin Searcy played a major role in the win off the bench with 14 points and 11 rebounds in his third double-double of the season, and Chris Johnson scored 14 as well to lead the Flyers (19-9, 7-6). Bill Clark led three Dukes (17-8, 9-3) in double figures with 17 points, but they now also need help in the Atlantic 10 race as the loss drops them two games behind Xavier in the loss column.

The difference ultimately was rebounding, with Dayton dominating the boards by a 48-22 margin. Sixteen offensive rebounds resulted in a 20-2 edge in second-chance points, essentially nullifying 19 Flyer turnovers that resulted in 25 Duquesne points (25-6 edge for the Dukes). The two teams weren't separated by much early, with a pair of T.J. McConnell free throws out of the under-12 timeout making the score 13-12 Dayton. Brian Gregory's team would score nine of the next eleven points to extend their lead to eight by the next media timeout. Duquesne answered with an 8-2 run over the next 1:28, with Clark's second consecutive three-pointer cutting Dayton's lead to 24-22.

Layups from Josh Benson and Johnson extended Dayton's lead back to six, but they slowed down some offensively due in large part to their turnovers as the Dukes got back into the game. A Juwan Staten turnover resulted in a Sean Johnson three-point play to give Duquesne a 32-30 lead with 1:39 remaining, their first since 10-9 at the 12:45 mark. Duquesne would take a 37-34 lead into the locker room thanks to 13 points off 10 Dayton turnovers. The Flyers kicked off the second half with a pair of layups, only to have B.J. Monteiro answer with a three to make the score 40-38 with 16:39 left i the game.

A tip-in of a Benson miss by Searcy and a pair of Benson free throws on the next possession gave Dayton a 44-41 lead with 13:11 remaining, but things would continue to go back and forth between the two teams for much of the half. The Dukes would score five straight points to push their lead out to 58-52 with 4:32 remaining, but the Damian Saunders layup would be their last field goal for more than four minutes. Dayton went on a 10-0 run over the next four minutes before a Sean Johnson three cut their lead to one (62-61) with 25 seconds remaining. A pair of Staten free throws would be Dayton's final points, and with Duquesne following a Dayton turnover with one of their own in the game's final seconds that would be all the Flyers needed.

Dayton is off until the 27th when they host rival Xavier, and Duquesne hosts Rhode Island on Wednesday night.

Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Fans

Dayton Holds on to Beat Duquesne