No Cooke, No problem. Dayton dominates St. Bonaventure 90–74
Final Score: Dayton 90, St. Bonaventure 74
Seeking a 2–0 start to conference play, the Dayton Flyers went on the road to take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. Already a tough task to win in Olean, Dayton’s challenge became even tougher when the Flyers learned prior to the game that they would be without Charles Cooke. Dayton did receive some good news, however, in the fact that Darrell Davis was healthy enough to play. Even with Cooke out, Dayton vs. St. Bonaventure promised to make for a great showdown.
Early on both teams really struggled to find a rhythm offensively. A three by Kendall Pollard gave Dayton a 5–4 advantage at the first media timeout. the Flyers managed to open up a 10–4 lead, but St. Bonaventure game right back. With both teams shooting under 30% from the field, the Bonnies led Dayton 17–16 approaching seven minutes to play in the first half. Coming out of a timeout, St. Bonaventure really started to turn up the heat. The Bonnies opened up a 23–16 lead, but just as it looked like St. Bonaventure might pull away the Flyers fought back. Back to back threes by Kyle Davis started a Dayton barrage from behind the arc. Shooting over 58% from three, the Flyers carried a 35–31 lead into the half.
Dayton picked up right where it left off coming out of the break. Less than three minutes into the second half the Flyers opened up their lead to 47–36. Some questionable calls against Dayton kept St. Bonaventure as the Bonnies cut the deficit to six. Even with Kendall Pollard on the bench, however, the Flyers kept rolling. Back to back threes by Scoochie Smith extended Dayton’s lead to 72–58 with eight minutes to go in the second half. Two free throws by Xeyrius Williams gave the Flyers their largest lead of the game at 15, but Jaylen Adams responded with a huge three for St. Bonaventure. With 4:20 to play, Dayton led 78–66.
Over the final few minutes Dayton cruised to a win. The Flyers handled St. Bonaventure’s press very well and came away with a huge 90–74 road victory. With the win Dayton improves to 11–3 overall and 2–0 in conference play. Five Flyers scored in double figures and Kendal Pollard led the way with 21 points. Kyle Davis, Scoochie Smith, and Ryan Mikesell all added 16 points while Xeyrius Williams put up 14. Williams also led the way with eight rebounds in Dayton’s domination of St. Bonaventure. Overall the True Team put together a great all-around performance against the Bonnies, shooting an insane 61% from three as a team. Friday night can not come soon enough as the #1 Flyers will host A-10 preseason #2 Rhode Island at 7:00 ET.
