No. 21 Dayton looks to start a new streak in conference play Friday when it hosts St. Bonaventure.
Dayton needed to rebound quickly following its first loss in two months Saturday at Richmond. The Flyers (17-3, 7-1 Atlantic 10) did just that, scoring an 83-61 home win over George Washington on Tuesday.
Among the Dayton players needing a bounce-back performance entering the George Washington game was Wooden Award Top 20 Watch List member DaRon Holmes II. After a 2-for-12 shooting performance against Richmond, the conference’s leading scorer (19.4 points per game) recorded 25 points, 12 rebounds and four assists Tuesday.
“(DaRon) is still growing, still learning,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “I thought he did a great job of responding to the loss.”
Dayton’s Nate Santos and Koby Brea each chipped in 17 points, with the pair combining for eight 3-pointers. Brea shot 5-for-9 from long distance, improving on his Division I-best 48.7 3-point percentage.
“I expect it to go in when (Koby) shoots it,” Grant said. “I think he’s one of the elite shooters in the country, and we did a good job of finding him tonight. He did a great job of putting himself in positions to be able to make plays for his team.”
Grant and the Flyers now move their attention to a St. Bonaventure team that topped them 68-59 last season.
“This will be a great test for our team,” Grant said. “It’s a critical game with another opportunity here at home.”
Behind Holmes, Santos scores 11.6 points per game, while Brea averages 11.
St. Bonaventure (13-7, 4-4) travels to Dayton riding a two-game win streak, including a 20-point rally at home against VCU on Tuesday. Trailing 39-19 late in the first half, the Bonnies used a 41-23 second-half advantage in a five-point win.
“We showed some toughness,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “We didn’t play very well in the first half and VCU had a lot to do with it. No game is won in the first 20 minutes. Our guys came out in the second half and ‘blue-collared’ it. We just fought.”
Despite shooting just 35.6 percent from the field and 22.7 percent on 3-pointers, the Bonnies pulled away using a 43-30 rebounding advantage — including 16-5 on the offensive glass.
“It was Bonaventure basketball in the second half,” Schmidt said. “It couldn’t have been better.”
The Bonnies were led in scoring by a pair off the bench, as Daryl Banks III scored 15 points followed by 13 points from Mika Adams-Woods. Fifth-year senior Charles Pride made just one of his seven shots but grabbed 10 rebounds, six on the offensive end.
“(Chuck) is not the prettiest player in St. Bonaventure history, but he’s productive as heck,” Schmidt said. “Ten rebounds, six offensive, those are huge.”
Chad Venning leads the Bonnies in scoring at 14.2 points per game, while Adams-Woods averages 13.4.
St. Bonaventure has lost four in a row at Dayton, with its last win coming in February 2016.
–Field Level Media