WEDNESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at St. Joseph’s, 6 p.m., CBS Sports Network, AM 1290, News 95.7 WHIO
Darrell Davis had no idea how much time had passed since the Dayton Flyers had won a game at Rhode Island’s Ryan Center. Why would he? He was 8 the last time it happened.
Eleven years and two weeks after the Kingston Curse began, the sophomore guard from Detroit delivered the latest storybook moment in a fairy-tale season. A 3-pointer by Davis with 21.1 seconds remaining lifted the No. 19 Flyers to a 68-66 victory Friday over Rhode Island.
“I’ve been at the gym after practice working on my shot with Archie (Miller),” Davis said. “He told me my time was coming and to stick with it.”
While Davis’ shooting accuracy has declined from his freshman season, when he was one of the top shooters in the Atlantic 10 Conference, he made 4 of 5 shots from the field in this game and scored 11 points. He made both of his 3-point attempts. Miller said he knew the shot would fall when it left Davis’ hands.
“He earned that shot,” Miller said. “He really has. He’s been working after practice. I was really happy. It’s been a long time coming for him. He’s really earned his way to the floor. I’m very proud of him.”
The Flyers (21-3, 11-1) extended their winning streak to nine. They own a 1 ½-game lead in the Atlantic 10 over Virginia Commonwealth (17-7, 9-2) and St. Joseph’s (20-4, 9-2). They also ended a six-game losing streak in Kingston. Their last victory came on Jan. 27, 2005.
All that happened because of the shot by Davis. The Flyers led 48-40 early in the second half only to see Rhode Island (14-11, 6-6) storm back to take a 61-58 lead with 3:25 to play.
The teams traded baskets in the final minutes. Dyshawn Pierre, who led the Flyers with 17 points, hit two free throws with 56 seconds left to give Dayton a 64-63 lead. A 3-point play by Rhode Island’s Hassan Martin with 41 seconds to go put the Rams back on top 66-64.
To set up the winning shot, Dayton point guard Scoochie Smith drove to the basket, jumped and passed the ball to Pierre behind the 3-point line. Pierre did not hesitate and passed the ball to Davis in the corner. Davis said the play was called “3-bang.”
It was all a blur to Miller after the game, but he did his best to remember it.
“Scooch did a really nice job making another play,” Miller said. “He was really aggressive in between the elbows, trying to split defenders and get to the rim. He made a great kick-out to Dyshawn. I thought Dyshawn was going to shoot it, and man he zipped it to the opposite corner.”
Rhode Island got the ball back for one last chance and ran the clock down to the final seconds. Four McGylnn, who led the Rams with 19 points, missed a jump shot with two seconds remaining as Dayton’s top defender Kyle Davis ran at him.
“It’s a lot of pressure, that last shot,” Kyle Davis said, “but after Darrell made a tough 3 in the corner, he came up and told me, ‘One more stop.’ He knew I had it in me. I just had to lock down on defense.”
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