RHODE KILL

Final Score: Dayton 75, Rhode Island 74

With Josh Cunningham finally back after a three month injury rehab, Dayton rolled into Rhode Island looking to snag a huge win. When these two teams met back on January 6th, the Flyers were without both Cunningham and leading scorer Charles Cooke. Despite the key absences, though, Dayton managed to grab a 67–64 win over the Rams. Needless to say, Rhode Island desperately wanted revenge and promised to put up a fight against the Flyers on Friday night.

Early on the two heavyweights fought for position as Dayton and Rhode Island went back and forth. A Nicola Akele bucket and foul helped the Rams open up a 18–10 lead halfway through the first half. Nevertheless, the Flyers fought back. Going on a 7–0 run, Dayton drew within one before Rhode Island re-extended its lead. Despite trailing by as much as 11 in the first half, the Flyers trailed by just six at the break thanks to a Kendall Pollard three.

Behind 36–30 at half, Dayton opened the second half on a 7–0 run to take its first lead of the game. Both teams battled over the next few minutes and Rhode Island took a slight advantage before Darrell Davis sank two free throws. With 12 minutes to play, the Flyers and Rams remained knotted up at 49–49.

Fighting through some questionable officiating, Dayton led by three with just over eight minutes to play. Following the Flyers largest lead, though, Rhode Island went on an 8–0 run. Despite trailing 63–59 with four minutes to go, Dayton refused to give up. The Flyers fought back, but only to see Rhode Island open its lead back up to four.

Trailing 73–69 with 24.4 seconds to go, the True Team knew it would need some huge plays in order to win. It looked like a tall order, but Xeyrius Williams immediately responded with a three to cut Dayton’s deficit to one. After E.C. Matthews went 1–2 from the line, the Flyers found themselves down by two with 16 seconds left.

Then. It happened. Xeyrius Williams hit another monster three to give Dayton a 75–74 lead with 7.2 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout Jared Terrell quickly took the ball down the floor trying to win it for Rhody. Unfortunately for him, Kendall Pollard awaited in the paint and forced the ball out of bounds. After an official review the Rams kept the ball with 1.4 seconds left. Great in-bound defense by Dayton kept Rhode Island from getting a shot off. Somehow, someway, the True Team managed to grab a huge 75–74 win at Rhode Island and stay atop the conference.

With the win Dayton improves to 19–5 overall and 10–2 in the A-10. The Flyers will be back in action Tuesday night at Saint Louis in round two of the Arch Baron Cup. If Dayton defeats the Billikens next week, the Flyer’s senior class will become the all-time winningest class in program history.