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DAYTON, Ohio – Dayton (17-12, 7-8 Atlantic 10) started the second half on a 12-2 run to open up a 15-point lead, and St. Bonaventure (14-14, 7-8 A-10) couldn't get any closer than six the rest of the night, spoiling a game-high 22 points from senior Demitrius Conger in his final regular-season road game.
With the loss, the Bonnies move into a four-way tie at 7-8 for 9th place in the A-10 with Dayton, Richmond and Charlotte. George Washington lost at La Salle Wednesday night, moving the Colonials to 6-9 in the league and into the 13th seed. The top 12 teams in the 16-team A-10 qualify for next weekend's A-10 Championship at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Bonnies host Fordham (2-13 A-10) on Saturday knowing that a win will secure a postseason berth. Dayton travels to GW, and if the Flyers defeat the Colonials, SBU will earn a trip to Brooklyn regardless of its outcome against the Rams. As it currently stands, Dayton would have the 9 seed by virtue of a 3-0 record against St. Bonaventure, Richmond and Charlotte. Richmond (2-1 vs. the group) would have the 10 seed, the Bonnies (1-2) would earn the 11 seed and Charlotte (0-3) would be the 12th and final seed. The 11 seed plays the 6 seed (currently Massachusetts) in the 9 p.m. game Thursday, and the winner would play the 3 seed (currently La Salle) on Friday at 9 p.m.
Against Dayton, Eric Mosley was the lone other Bona player to reach double-figure scoring as he tallied 13, but the nation's 7th-best 3-point shooter (45.1 percent) struggled from deep, going just 3-10 and scoring 10 of his points in the second half. Redshirt junior Marquise Simmons chipped in with nine points – his best scoring output since he matched it at Butler on Feb. 6.
After trailing by just five, 32-27, at the half, the Bonnies allowed the Flyers to start the second half on that 12-2 run to take a 44-29 lead just more than three minutes into the stanza. The Bonnies fought back and got the deficit to six on two occasions, but couldn't hit the shot or get the defensive stand they needed to secure an A-10 Championship berth.
Following a pair of Conger free throws to make it 54-48 with 6:41 left, SBU got a defensive stop but Youssou Ndoye couldn't hit a hook shot in the paint to cut the deficit to four. Dayton responded with a free throw and a fastbreak layup to go back up nine, 57-48.
The Bonnies clawed their way back to within six again a few minutes later, 57-51, following a Chris Johnson 3-pointer with 4:36 left, but UD immediately responded with a Dyshawn Pierre 3-pointer on its next trip to spearhead a 7-0 run and put the game out of reach
In the opening seven minutes of the game, the lead changed hands five times and the contest was tied on five occasions, but following a Jalen Robinson jumper at the 12:22 mark of the first half, the Flyers led for the duration of the night.
UD – which entered the game as the A-10's leading field-goal percentage shooting team – shot 53 percent (26-49), including 47 percent from 3-point range (7-15). Conversely, after shooting 48 percent (11-23) in the first half from the floor, the Bonnies went just 13-33 (39 percent) in the second half as they lost their fifth straight game at Dayton, dating back to the 2001-02 season.
Playing his final regular season game at UD Arena, Kevin Dillard led a quartet of double-figure scorers with 18 points and a game-best eight assists. Vee Sandorf added 14, Pierre had 12 and Dayton native Josh Benson pitched in with 10.
St. Bonaventure returns to the court for its regular-season finale on Senior Day against Fordham. Bona's four seniors – Conger, Chris Johnson, Mosley and Michael Davenport – will be honored for their time in the Brown and White prior to the 4 p.m. tip. Tickets still remain and may be purchased by calling 716-375-2500, logging on to GoBonnies.com/Tickets or emailing tickets@sbu.edu.
GAME NOTES: Dayton went 16-20 (80 percent) from the free-throw line while SBU went 6-7 (86 percent) … Johnson scored six points and Jordan Gathers added five for the Bonnies … after turning the ball over eight times in the first half, Bona gave the ball away just four times in the second … UD out-rebounded SBU, 32-27, but Bona had more second-chance points, 15-11 … Conger played 37 minutes, breaking a streak of playing six consecutive complete games … Michael Davenport tied the program's all-time record for career games played by appearing in his 126th contest.