The Dayton Flyers beat a top-25 team for the first time in the Anthony Grant era, winning, 76-71, at No. 22 Saint Louis on Tuesday at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis.
Jalen Crutcher scored 14 of 27 points, two short of his career high, in the last 4:01 to help the Flyers stay on top in a game in which they never trailed.
For the second time this season, Dayton (9-4, 5-3) put one of its worst performances in recent memory behind it with a solid road victory. Dayton lost, 55-54, at Fordham on Jan. 5 and then won, 89-79, in overtime at Davidson on Jan. 8.
This victory followed a 66-43 loss at Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday. That was Dayton’s most lopsided loss in three years. Dayton still hasn’t lost two Atlantic 10 Conference games in a row since 2018.
This is Dayton’s first victory against a team ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press poll since Dec. 9, 2015, when it won, 72-67, at No. 21 Vanderbilt. Until this victory, Dayton’s last victory against a ranked A-10 Conference opponent came on Feb. 28, 2015, when it beat No. 22 Virginia Commonwealth, 59-55, in Richmond, Va.
Saint Louis was playing its first game since Dec. 23. It had to postpone its first seven A-10 games because at least 11 players, plus coach Travis Ford, tested positive for COVID-19.
Although Dayton never trailed, in the second half, Saint Louis tied the game twice, the last time with 4:31 to play.
Crutcher started his scoring run with a 3-pointer with 4:01 to play, and Dayton didn’t trail again. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Crutcher and Mustapha Amzil pushed the lead to 66-57 with 1:49 to play. Dayton made eight free throws in the final 62 seconds to clinch the victory.
Ibi Watson scored 18 points. Elijah Weaver had 12.
Dayton made 12 of 27 3-pointers (44.4%). It has shot better than 40% in all five of its A-10 victories and below 25% in its three losses. Dayton held Saint Louis, one of the top offensive rebounding teams in the country, to two offensive rebounds.
Dayton led 36-31 at halftime. The Flyers surpassed their 13-point first-half total against VCU, which tied for the lowest scoring half in school history, in the first eight minutes.
The Flyers made their first three 3-pointers and made 7 of 15 3-pointers in the first half after making 3 of 20 in the game against VCU. Crutcher, who scored a season-low four points against VCU, scored 13 in the first half.
Dayton led the entire half and stretched its lead to as many as eight points three times.
