Men's Basketball

Schedule/Results | Roster | News | Archives

Feb. 22, 2005

Final Stats

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Dayton erased a nine-point halftime deficit and spoiled St. Bonaventure's upset bid with a 68-61 win on Tuesday night at the Reilly Center.

St. Bonaventure found itself down 12-4 six minutes into the game. But feisty defense enabled the Bonnies to counter their slow start. A layup from junior guard Ahmad Smith ignited a 21-8 run that gave the Bonnies a 25-20 advantage with 5:08 left in the half. A traditional three-point play from junior forward Patrick Lottin capped the surge.

The Bonnies held Dayton to just seven points over the final 9:23 of the first half to enter intermission with a 34-25 lead, just their sixth half-time lead all season.

The Flyers opened the second half with a 14-3 run to regain the lead at 39-37 with 14:36 left. Dayton extended its lead to as many as seven, 56-49, with 6:33 remaining.

The Bonnies pulled within 58-57 at the 3:07 mark when Smith sunk two shots from the charity stripe. The Flyers' Monty Scott answered, hitting two free throws of his own at the 2:49 mark. Norman Plummer scored with 46 ticks left to put Dayton ahead 62-57, but the Bonnies wouldn't go away, as senior forward Saulius Dumbliauskas answered with a layin of his own five seconds later to make it 62-59.

Warren Williams extended the Flyer lead to five with two free throws with 26 ticks left, but Smith answered with two from the stripe to bring the Bonnies back within 64-61 with 21 seconds to play. Dayton's Mark Jones, however, went 4-4 from the free-throw line in the final 19 seconds secure the win. The Flyers wound up outscoring the Bonnies 43-27 over the final 20 minutes.

"Down the stretch, the last four or five minutes, Dayton made the plays and we did not," said Bonnies head coach Anthony Solomon. "It was not because of lack of effort. I'm very proud of our young men."

"We knew going into this game that it would be a tough one," said Dayton head coach Brian Gregory. "They were in control. They had us in the first half but we were able to shut down their threes."

St. Bonaventure was 20-50 (40 percent) from the field, but went just 2-17 (12 percent) from long-range. Dayton hit 22-48 (46 percent) of its field goals, and 6-19 (32 percent) of its three-point attempts.

Smith led the Bonnies with a career-high 26 points on 8-15 shooting and 10-11 from the free-throw line. He has scored 18, 24, 15 and 26 points over his last four games.

"Over the last few weeks, Ahmad has found out how much his team looks up to him and follows his actions," Solomon said. "Our young men need the see older players and how they act more businesslike by how they prepare for practices, games, and off the court."

Smith and Dumbliauskas tied for the team lead with six rebounds. St. Bonaventure out-rebounded Dayton 31-28, marking the third straight game the Bonnies have been ahead or even in rebounding.

Lottin was the only other Bona player in double figures. He totaled 19 points to go with three assists and three boards.

Scott led the Flyers with 16 points, while five other players tallied eight points apiece.

The Bonnies fell to 2-23 on the season and 1-13 in Atlantic 10 Conference play. Dayton improved to 16-8 and 9-4 in conference action.

"I want our young men to do well, because they have put a lot of time and effort into this season," Solomon said. "We have to continue to compete. What we did from the beginning of the season to now has showed great improvement."

The Bonnies will host Fordham this Saturday at the Reilly Center at 4:30 in their final home game of the season. It will air on the A-10 Television Network.

Game Notes: -The Bonnies held the lead at the half for the sixth time this season. -Ahmad Smith surpassed his previous career-high (24 vs. Xavier) with 26 points on the night. It was the sixth time Smith has scored 20 or more points this season. -For the sixth time this season, Bona lost by 10 points or less. -The attendance was 4,173. -The Bonnies are now 0-18 when scoring less than 70 points. -For the fifth consecutive game, senior walk-on Greg Lewis earned a start. The scrappy guard totalled four points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal on the night.