Dayton vs. Xavier game recap
March 12, 2010
By Nate Waggenspack
While the game largely came to an end with a technical foul assessed to Rob Lowery with 33 seconds left, it had been getting away from Dayton for much longer than that.
UD lost another close game to Xavier Friday when the Musketeers rallied from being down by 15 points in the second half to win 78-73. The sophomore guard tandem of Terrell Holloway and Jordan Crawford proved to be more than Dayton could handle, combing to score 42 points, 27 of them in the second half.
The game proved to be a microcosm of Dayton's season, as many of the same things that have plagued Dayton this year came back to haunt them in the second half.
Dayton had delivered a phenomenal performance and led 59-44 with 11:21 remaining in the game, and then Xavier began to make its run. They were aided by UD foul trouble, which had them shooting the bonus from the free throw line with just under 10 minutes to play.
Xavier was able to close the gap from the foul line (33-41 from the stripe for the game), while they shut Dayton down offensively. The Flyers did not score a field goal for over 10 minutes during the second half.
Xavier was able to make its comeback complete and even take the lead. With UD trailing by two, Lowery brought the ball down the court and called timeout. Holloway made a move to steal the ball and Lowery retaliated with a swipe of his arm. The officials immediately called a dead-ball technical foul on Lowery, which resulted in two free throws and the ball for Xavier. Holloway made four consecutive free throws, and Xavier's lead was six, effectively sealing the game.
While the technical was a deciding play, things had begun going downhill long before that. UD turned the ball over 18 times, shot 17-26 from the foul line, and were outrebounded 39-28. In addition to that, foul trouble haunted Dayton throughout the game. Devin Searcy fouled out with over six minutes left and Chris Johnson played just 11 minutes and scored zero points due to foul trouble throughout the game.
With the loss, Dayton's NCAA Tournament hopes are almost certainly finished. The Flyers will now await a call from the NIT Tournament, which will also be selected Sunday night. Xavier moves on to the Atlantic 10 Semifinals, its ninth consecutive appearance in the final four. They will face the winner of Richmond and Massachusetts.
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