Much was made of Dayton’s home-court advantage in yesterday’s First 4 matchup at UD Arena against the Mountain West’s Boise State Broncos. That advantage seemed non-existent until 37 seconds left in the game when the ghosts of Flyers past carried a Jordan Sibert three directly into the basket, as Dayton was able to hang on in the 56-55 win over Boise State.
The Flyers jumped out to and early 10-4 lead, holding the Broncos to just two field goals over the first 9:48 of play. A Montigo Alford three however seemed to lift the lids off the BSU basket, as Boise State went on a 25-10 run to end the half and take a nine-point lead into the lockers.
Dayton rallied to take a three-point lead less than six minutes into the second, but once again went cold and saw Boise turn their deficit into a nine-point lead with 6:36 left on the clock.
A Kendall Pollard layup with 3:24 to go spurred a 7-0 Flyers run to tie the game.
Alford gave Boise a two-point lead at the stripe with less than a minute remaining until Sibert quickly responded with the game-winner.
Pollard had a chance to extend the Flyers lead at the stripe but missed both free throws with 14 seconds to play, giving Boise a shot at the win. The Broncos had two attempts to put the game away but saw there season end when Derrick Marks attempted to jump into Dayton’s Kyle Davis behind the three-point line, a play the refs refused award with a foul giving the Flyers a ticket to Columbus and a round of 64 matchup with the Providence Friars.
