Game of the Night
Duquesne Dukes 74, (#19) Dayton Flyers 76
Despite trailing late in the game, the Flyers were able to come back and beat Duquesne in a true thriller. Dayton trailed the Dukes 61-69 with just under 4:30 remaining; it looked as if the Flyers’ 7-game winning streak would be snapped at home, but Kyle Davis and Scoochie Smith certainly had something to say about that notion. The two combined to go on a personal 12-1 run in the next 3 minutes. Capped off by a huge three-pointer by Smith, the Flyers regained the lead and held on down the stretch to get the win. Now 10-1 in conference play and 20-3 overall, Dayton moves 1 win ahead of VCU in the A-10 conference standings. Duquesne was very close to pulling off its biggest win of the season, but it fell two points short on the road. The Dukes move to 5-6 in conference play and 15-9 overall.
Duquesne truly had one of its better games of the season, fighting tooth and nail with one of the best teams in the nation. The Dukes went 28-62 (45.2%) from the field and knocked down 11 three pointers. They really controlled the pace of the game for the majority of the contest, but a late surge by the Flyers sent the Dukes home with a close loss. Guards Micah Mason and Derrick Colter were incredible on Tuesday night. They went for 27 and 21 points respectively; Mason knocked down an impressive 7-8 three point attempts. There really is no shame in Duquesne’s performance Tuesday night. Though the Flyers were able to come back at the end of the game, not many people expected this one to be as close as it was.
Though Kyle Davis and Scoochie Smith were the heroes at the end of the contest, Charles Cooke really carried the baton all night long. He scored a team-high 22 points on 8-15 shooting from the field. Though the Flyers struggled from the free throw line (15-28), he was fairly solid, knocking in 6 of his 9 attempts. Though Dayton was not very good from the charity stripe nor from downtown (5-17), they still found a way to come out with the win. Kyle Davis ended up with 15 points while Scoochie Smith had 14. Even when the Flyers aren’t firing on all cylinders, they still have enough talent to win tight games over good Atlantic 10 teams. Expect this team to shine from here on out, all the way into the NCAA Tournament.
Elsewhere in A-10 Action
George Mason Patriots 63, Rhode Island Rams 81
Despite not having Kuran Iverson for yet another contest, the Rams had enough fire-power to get a nice home win over George Mason on Tuesday night. The star of the show was Rhode Island’s Four McGlynn. Though he had been struggling with his shot as of late, he found a way to absolutely light it up against the Patriots. McGlynn went for 25 points and knocked down 6 of 11 from downtown. In addition, the Rams got nice contributions from Jared Terrell and Jarvis Garrett with 19 and 17 points respectively. The Patriots struggled immensely from the field, going just 22-61 (36.1%). Shevon Thompson had 17 points for George Mason; DeAndre Abram wasn’t far behind with 16 of his own.
