Grant appeared at a postgame press conference with Nate Santos and Malachi Smith. Then he answered questions on the WHIO Radio postgame show. Finally, he spent a few minutes with two Dayton Daily News reporters on the edge of the court in an empty Capital One Arena.
Grant’s seventh appearance in the A-10 tournament ended in disappointing fashion, which most members of the Flyer Faithful have come to expect in this event. Dayton still has never won the tournament outside UD Arena. It hasn’t won the last 21 tournaments, no matter the location. Eight different programs won the last eight tournaments — but not Dayton, which had a top-four seed in six of those tournaments.
In eight seasons, Grant has produced one A-10 regular-season championship, no A-10 tournament titles and two NCAA tournament bids, if you count the bid UD would have received if the 2020 tournament had not been canceled. He was asked after the game if what the program has done in his tenure was enough to appease a hungry fan base.
“It’s not for me to decide,” Grant said. “I can tell you, I gave everything I have to it. I feel like the group we had, that it was important to them. I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Here are three takeaways from Dayton’s 32nd game:
1. Dayton blew a four-point lead in the last 18 seconds: Dayton led 60-56 with 18 seconds left in the second half after a layup by Malachi Smith. Then Xzayvier Brown, of Saint Joseph’s, made two free throws with 14 seconds to play.
Smith missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 10 seconds remaining and then fouled Brown with six seconds left. Brown made both free throws to tie the game.
Smith dribbled the length of the court after the second made free throw and had a layup attempt blocked at the buzzer.
Smith made many big plays this season and a number of clutch free throws, including two in the final seconds in the previous game to help Dayton beat Virginia Commonwealth in the regular-season finale, but his miss Friday helped the Hawks tie the game.
“It’s a little disappointing,” Smith said. “Definitely wanted a different outcome as far as playing in March. It’s going to be hard watching teams on TV. But I can say I gave it my all.”
Grant wouldn’t place the blame on Smith.
“We wouldn’t have been in position to win without what he did throughout the game,” Grant said. “That’s one play of dozens of plays throughout the game.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
2. Saint Joseph’s controlled the overtime: The Hawks led by as many as 15 points in the first half and saw Dayton chip away at that advantage throughout the second half. The Flyers tied the game on a 3-pointer by Amael L’Etang with 8 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.
Saint Joseph’s again surged ahead, building an eight-point lead with 3:35 to play. Dayton answered with a 12-0 run to take a 60-56 lead with 18 seconds remaining.
The Hawks then built on a 4-0 run to end the second half with a 4-0 run to start the overtime period. The Flyers trailed throughout the overtime period, though they had a chance to take the lead on a 3-point attempt by Nate Santos at the 1:29 mark. That miss plus four free throws by Saint Joseph’s in the final 30 seconds sealed Dayton’s fate.
Saint Joseph’s (22-11) avenged a 77-72 loss at UD Arena in January and ended a five-game losing streak in the series. The Hawks will play No. 2 seed George Mason in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Dayton’s awesome,” Saint Joseph’s coach Billy Lange said. “They’ve had an unbelievable season. They’re a great team. They’re led by a great man. This was a great win for our program, especially the way we did it. We couldn’t have done this before. The growth of the group defensively against an amazing team like Dayton shows a lot of the development of the program, so I’m proud of these guys.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
3. The season may not be over: Dayton had slim NCAA tournament at-large hopes entering the tournament. That depended on winning two games in Washington. Those hopes are dead.
The few experts who predict the NIT field expect Dayton to receive an invitation on Sunday. Dayton declined a bid in 2023 after losing in the A-10 championship game because of injuries on the roster. Asked if UD would accept one this season, Grant said, “As far as I know, yeah.”
Dayton squandered a 10-3 performance in non-conference play with three early A-10 losses but fought its way back to the bubble conversation with a four-game winning streak to end the regular season.
Asked to sum up the season, Grant said, “That’s a great question. Honestly, I’ve got to reflect. If I’m being dead honest with you, I’m torn between whether this was a team that overachieved or underachieved. We’ve been through a lot.
“It’s been the best of times and the worst of times in terms of what this team has had to go through and how we’ve kind of had to manufacture some things. A lot of really good stuff, but then also some things that we had to overcome that were self-inflicted stuff, that kind of put us in a little bit of a hole. If I’m summing it up, I probably have to reserve that until I have more time to kind of reflect and see where things end up.”
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