Philadelphia, PA – The Dayton Flyers coasted by the Saint Joe’s Hawks this Saturday with a 74-62 margin of victory. This was Dayton’s second win in Hagan arena since 2002. The Flyers took control of the game early and never looked back as they easily put the Hawks away.
In addition to being a rare win in Hagan for Dayton, this was the Flyers fourth win in a row. Dayton, one of the hottest teams in the conference, is also 7-1 in their last 8 games and 11-3 in A-10 play. On the other side, this was Saint Joe’s fourth loss in a row. Not to mention the Hawks are 1-5 in their last six games as they tumble to a 10-15 record. Unfortunately, this loss also puts the possibility of a .500 record out of reach for Saint Joe’s regular season.
Dayton Dices Saint Joe’s
For Dayton this was a no frills win. They gained the lead five minutes into the game and never looked back. The Flyers were led by forward Daron Holmes II, who scored 18 points on 6 for 10 shooting. Holmes also secured five rebounds and blocked four shots. In addition, Dayton had major output from guard Malachi Smith who finished with 16 points, 6 assist and 10 rebounds.
Everything was working for Dayton on offense today. The Flyers finished the game shooting 54% from the field and 45% from three. They were also able to find free points at the charity stripe, sinking 17 of their 25 free throws.
Finally, offense wasn’t the only thing that stood out. The defensive side of the ball was also a major key in their win over Saint Joe’s. The Flyers were able to hold Saint Joe’s to 39% shooting from the field, and blocked a total of 5 shots. One negative for Dayton was the fact that they had 11 turnovers, however, that did hurt the team too much as they easily walked their way to victory.
Funk is in a Slump
One quick glance at the stat sheet reveals the big issue for Saint Joe’s basketball, Taylor Funk and Jordan Hall went silent. For Funk this is nothing new. The red shirt senior has found his way into double digit scoring only once in his last five games. Tonight, Funk finished with only four points and shot the ball only four times as well.
Hall also had a quiet game, finishing with 9 points on 3 for 11 shooting. The simple fact is, Saint Joe’s will not win games if their two best players are this quiet. While Hall and Funk do not need to be first and second at the top of the stat sheet for Saint Joe’s to be successful, they do need to have a higher scoring output.
One bright spot was the play from Erik Reynolds II, who continues to be the ‘go-to’ scoring option for Saint Joe’s. The freshman finished with a team high 16 points on 5-14 shooting.
Saint Joe’s Outlook
While getting back to a .500 record is out of the question for the Hawks, the team still has something to play for. The season isn’t over until it is over, and we should expect SJU to continue to fight for the highest A10 seed as possible. However, wins will be hard to come by unless Taylor Funk can return to his old ways.
