By PAUL GOTHAM
DAYTON, OH — Jaylen Adams connected on a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds remaining as the St. Bonaventure Bonnies defeated the University of No. 15/13 Dayton Flyers, 79-72 in Atlantic 10 action, Saturday.
Adams hit 8-of-19 shots on the day including 5-of-9 from behind the arc to go with a perfect 10-of-10 mark at the free throw line. The sophomore point guard matched a season and career-high with 31 points including Bona’s final seven.
“Jay made great decisions all night. He not only shot the ball well he attacked, he was under control the whole game,” said St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt. “He was the reason why we won.”
Adams used a high ball screen from Dion Wright to get the slightest of openings for the eventual game winner.
“Jay was the guy,” Schmidt noted “We wanted to put Jay and Dion in a ball screen and play off that ball screen.
“You look at his stat line. It’s pretty incredible what he did. He was terrific. He was the best guy on the court, and we needed every minute and every basket that he did.”
After suffering a disappointing setback earlier in the week to the last-place La Salle Explorers, the Bonnies snapped Dayton’s 20-game home conference winning streak and handed the Flyers back-to-back defeats for the first time in 77 games.
“Biggest conference win on the road that we’ve had,” Schmidt stated. “Coming in here and you read all the game notes, 77 straight games that they’ve won coming off a loss, all that. Yeah, our guys showed great character coming off a tough loss.”
St. Bonaventure improved to 10-4 and maintained its hold on the crucial fourth-place spot in the conference standings. The win was SBU’s first road victory over a ranked opponent in program history.
“This wasn’t an easy thing to do coming off a loss and the way we played against La Salle,” Schmidt commented. “It’s not like they (Dayton) played bad. We made plays when we needed to make plays. and that shows great character. It’s hard in this crowd to keep your emotions under control and make those types of plays.”
The Bonnies led for 37:21, but it looked like Dayton would pull out another come-from-behind victory.
Trailing by as many as seven early in the second half, the Flyers scored nine straight to grab their only lead after the break.
Charles Cooke connected with a pair of free throws for two of his team-high 22 points. Steve McElvene finished in the lane. Dyshawn Pierre scored on an inbound play, and Cooke went end-to-end for an and-one. Dayton led 54-52 with 13:11 remaining.
But as he did all day, Adams had the answer. The 6-2 native of Baltimore, Maryland drove the lane and scored in traffic getting contact for an and-one of his own. The Bonnies led 55-54 and would not trail again.
“Jaylen Adams has just an unbelievable way of playing,” Dayton head coach Archie Miller said. “He’s one of the best that I think I’ve coached against. To do what he’s able to do and never come out of the game is incredible.”
Adams followed with a layup in the open court, and Nelson Kaputo pushed the lead back to five with a pair of three pointers.
“They played with great attitude,” Miller said. “They had great confidence coming in here. They were ready to play.”
Bona scored on its first six possessions of the game to grab an early double-digit advantage.
Wright opened the scoring inside. After Cooke responded for Dayton with a 3-pointer, Adams nailed a catch-and shoot 3. Marcus Posley finished a drive off the window. Adams connected again from behind the arc. Wright used a jump hook in the lane and combined with Adams on a pick and pop three from the left corner for a 15-5 SBU lead.
“Right out of the gates they set the tone,” Miller said. “They had a swagger about them.”
Scoochie Smith sparked an 11-5 Dayton run midway through the first half.
Trailing by seven, Cooke used a spin move in the lane to get to the basket for two. The junior forward followed with a pair of free throws before Smith went end-to-end with outlet for a layup. Smith used the backboard on a drive for another bucket and hit one of two at the free throw line. John Crosby went the length of the floor for another bucket, and Dayton trailed 25-24.
Darrell Davis curled in the lane for two. Pierre knocked down a catch-and-shoot three, and Smith hit two from the charity stripe to give UD a brief lead at 36-35.
But Adams scored the last five points of the half including a triple before the buzzer for a 40-36 edge going into the locker room.
“A guy his caliber you just hope to contain him,” Smith said of Adams. “If he does get off then we gotta try to contain the supporting cast.”
Wright scored 15 for the Bonnies, and Posley added 12.
“I hope they get in the NCAA Tournament,” Miller said of Bona. “They have an NCAA Tournament type team especially with that back court. Got a lot of respect for the way they do things.”
Smith had 18 points for the Flyers. McElvene and Pierre scored 12 apiece.
UD rallied from a double-digit earlier in the season to beat Duquesne. The Flyers also came from behind to win at Rhode Island.
“At the end of the day we’re just not tough enough defensively,” Miller said. “That’s the sad thing about it. We’ve done so well. We’ve worked so hard to become a good defensive team and program. To not play hard today or hard enough to win that game is disappointing on our end. We got to get back to business.”
Dayton had won six straight in the series and 15 of the last 16 meetings coming into Saturday. The Bonnies last win at Dayton was 2002.
The Bonnies have now beaten four straight ranked opponents. Bona beat VCU last year as well as Saint Louis (in the A-10 tournament) and UMass two years ago.
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