|
Men's Basketball
Dayton overcomes Bonnies in second half to earn 69-62 win
Feb. 10, 2007
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - It was the perfect start followed by a struggle in the second half. Dayton overcame an early deficit with a 52-point second half and beat St. Bonaventure 69-62 on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies lost their fourth straight game while the Flyers have won three out of four. St. Bonaventure got off to a superb start and led 17-3 midway through the first half. Even after scoring only six points over the final 11:12 of the half, the Bonnies still led 23-17 at intermission. Dayton made only seven of 29 shots (24 percent) in the first half, but the Flyers turned that around in the second half. After sophomore swingman A.J. Hawkins opened the second half scoring with a three-pointer that put St. Bonaventure ahead 26-17, Dayton got back in its feet with a 15-6 run to even the score at 32-32 with 14:41 to go. During that stretch, the Bonnies committed three turnovers that led directly to seven points for Dayton. A Hawkins jumper briefly gave the Brown and White back the lead, but Dayton then scored nine straight points to go ahead 41-34. Dayton led by as many as 10 and was ahead 59-51 with 4:00 left when the Bonnies got two free throws apiece from Hawkins and junior forward Michael Lee to pull within 59-55. The Flyers, however, responded with a three-pointer by Monty Scott and a dunk by Charles Little to seize control for good at 64-55 with 1:15 remaining. The Flyers took advantage of St. Bonaventure's miscues in the second half, scoring 18 points off nine Bonnies turnovers. Dayton made 19 of 26 shots (73 percent) in the second half. "We played a fantastic first half, and totally opposite in the second half," said St. Bonaventure coach Anthony Solomon. "It's very disappointing. We were in position and could not finish them off. We did not get the defensive stops we needed and we gave them `gimme' points off our turnovers. It's all about playing for 40 minutes on both ends of the floor."
St. Bonaventure fell to 6-18 overall and 3-8 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bonnies entered the weekend in 12th place out of 14 teams in the A-10, one game ahead of LaSalle for the final spot in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Dayton earned its first road win (1-8) of the season. The Flyers are now 16-8 overall and 6-5 in the conference. Hawkins led all scorers with 23 points, his second straight game of 20-plus points. He finished 4-5 from three-point range. "I've been working hard in practice and after practice on my jump shot, and Coach has told me to be more aggressive within the flow of the offense," Hawkins said. "I feel more confident." Senior center Paul Williams finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Lee and Zarryon Fereti both scored seven points. While Hawkins went 4-5 from long range, his teammates went just a combined 2-12. Tyler Relph finished with five points on 2-8 shooting. Relph did have four rebounds, three steals and two assists while playing 36 minutes. Dayton's depth was a factor as all nine Flyers who saw time scored. Marcus Johnson led the way with 13 points while Warren London and Little both had 10. The Flyers out-rebounded the Bonnies 33-28, including a 12-7 edge in offensive rebounds. "Give St. Bonaventure credit -- they got us out of sync in the first half," said Dayton coach Brian Gregory. "We're fortunate to get out of here with a win. We've lost some heart-breakers on the road ... our defense helped us. That team (St. Bonaventure) has made some strides the last three years. There's a very big difference in their talent level from the last time we were here." The Bonnies are off until next Saturday, Feb. 17, when they will host Saint Joseph's at 4:00. |
|
