Tonight, the Bearcats (8-1) traveled downtown to take on the Dayton Flyers (7-2) in another local rivalry match. This is a huge opportunity for the Bearcats as they are not just back at full strength after the news of Jamille Reynolds being eligible for the remainder of the season, but also a huge opportunity to end non-conference play with a huge quadrant one victory.
Reynolds, was not in the starting lineup for the Bearcats but would be available for the Bearcats for the first time all season after missing the first nine games of the season while waiting the NCAA’s decision on his waiver appeal. The NCAA announced last night that the temporary restraining order would remain in effect until the conclusion of the spring sports season.
Final Stats
DaRon Holmes finished with a game high 28 points, seven rebounds on 10-17 shooting. The big man gave the Bearcats a lot of problems tonight and was something we discussed heading into this one and he proved why he was the AA-10 preseason player of the year.
Kobe Elvis finished with 27 points on 6-11 shooting, after shooting a perfect 14-14 from the foul line. Koby Brea, finished with 12 points on 4-5 shooting, all in which came from behind the arch. Nate Santos also chimed in nine points for the Flyers all in which came in the second half.
For the Bearcats they were led by Aziz Bandaogo who finished with another double-double recording 10 points, 12 rebounds. While Day-Day Thomas(12), Simas Lukosius (14) also anchored the Bearcats offensively.
The Bearcats continued to struggle on the road after another performance where they shot just 26% from behind the arch. Dayton on the other hand was nearly 42% from three, which was the difference maker in this one. The Bearcats saw another slow scorign night for CJ Fredrick, Viktor Lakhin, Dan Skillings, as the trio combined for 15 points on just 7-23 shooting (30%). The Bearcats will need to find ways to get those guys involved if they want to be more efficinet heading into conference play. Holmes did a great job eliminating Lakhin tonight, as it seemed like any time the big men touched the ball, they were quickly double teamed.
The Rundown
The Bearcats would start the game on a 5-0 run after CJ Fredrick found a high-flying Aziz Bandaogo in the opening segments. Fredrick would then come down the very next possession and bury his first three-point attempt of the night. The Bearcats came down and scored on their third straight possession following another lob to Aziz Bandaogo through contact to give the Bearcats an 8-3 lead.
The Flyers would respond with a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the night at 10-8 following a huge made three pointer from Koby Brea. The Flyers were starting to find their groove after an early push from the Bearcats after sharpshooter Koby Brea knocked down his second three in under a minute to give the Flyers a 13-10 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.
The Bearcats had no answer for Koby Brea though, as the sharpshooter buried his first three field goal attempts, all from behind the arch. The Bearcats knew they had to make the switch and have John Newman guard the sharpshooter or it could get dangerous for the Bearcats. The Flyers took a 20-19 lead with 9 minutes remaining, where Wes Miller called upon Jamille Reynolds for the first time since being cleared by the NCAA.
The Flyers would keep their foot on the gas as they held the Bearcats without a field goal for nearly four minutes until Dan Skillings, finished a tough three-point play through traffic to make this a 24-22 game at the under eight media breaks. The Flyers were looking to keep their foot on the gas, but the Bearcats size would present some problems after Lakhin pulled down a huge offensive rebound, and found Jamille Reynolds snuck baseline for the Thunderous slam, his first points of his Bearcat career.
DaRon Holmes let it fly from deep where he connected to give the Flyers a 31-27 lead with 1:55 remaining in the first half. The Bearcats would look to cut the lead to one, before the Flyers finished the first half on a 7-2 swing as they took a 35-29 lead at the break.
The Flyers trio of Koby Brea (9), DaRon Holmes (12) and Kobe Elvis (10) combined for 31 of the Flyers 35 first half points, while shooting 43% from the field. While the Bearcats were led by Jizzle James who had a team high 5 points, along with Aziz Bandaogo with five points and six rebounds, on just 37% shooting. Overall the Bearcats struggled from behind the arch like we have seen in the team’s first two road games of the season, as they shot just 3-12 from behind the arch in the first half. They needed to find ways to keep DaRon Holmes contained, or the preseason A-10 player of the year was going to continue to dominate inside.
The Bearcats would find momentum early following the Fyler turnover, where Viktor Lakhin found a high flying Bandaogo for another easy slam to cut the Flyers lead to four. The Flyers then responded with a huge seven-to-zero run following a dagger made three from Kobe Elvis, that forced Wes Miller to call timeout trailing 42-31 with 17:31 remaining in the second half as this quickly approached danger zone it appeared.
Wes Miller would quickly make the change and play Day-Day Thomas alongside Jizzle James for the first time all season in hopes of a spark offensively. The two would combine for six of the Bearcat first ten second half points, but the Flyers quickly responded where they extended their lead to 48-39 following a huge dunk from Holmes, who spun by Bandaogo baseline for the easy slam. The Bearcats just had no answer for the Flyers big man as he was getting whatever he wanted inside.
The Flyers with another silencing seven-to-zero run as they held a 54-41 lead over the Bearcats with 12 minutes remaining. Dayton would go six of seven from the field during that time, as they extended their lead to 15 over the Bearcats. A game that was quickly becoming out of reach for the Bearcats as their shooting struggles continued away from Fifth Third Arena. The Flyers were taking advantage of everything as they held the Bearcats without a field goal during that span and their lead quickly largened.
The Bearcats continued to struggle from outside as they were just 3-16 here through 30 minutes of play while the Flyers on the other hand were 7-17, shooting nearly 40% from behind the arch. Dayton continued to prove why they are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country here through the first 30 minutes as the Flyers led the Bearcats 65-71 with seven minutes left.
The Bearcats would claw back in this after a 10-4 run, eight in which came from guard Simas Lukosius and just like that the Bearcats were finding some momentum down the stretch. A big time run from Lukosius in a time the Bearcats needed something the most, and you could quickly sense the energy change for the Bearcats shortly after. The Bearcats were looking to climb back here in the final minutes of this one as Wes Miller would look to bring the pressure in hopes of the Bearcats getting some turnovers to allow them to get out and run quickly.
The Flyers would hold the Bearcats to just 1 for 11 from the field in the final segment as they continued to pour it on the Bearcats following a wide open made three from DaRon Holmes. A dagger shot by the Flyer big man as the Flyers simply outplayed the Bearcats today after a the made three by Kobe Brea made it a 20-17 game the Flyers never looked back. Dayton simply outplayed the Bearcats today as they held on and defeated the Bearcats 82-68 behind career days from DaRon Holmes (28) and Kobe Elvis (27). Elvis, Holmes, Santos, Brea combined for 76 of the Flyers 82 points this evening as the veteran tandem was too much to handle for the Bearcats this afternoon.
The Bearcats are now 8-2 on the season, as the look to rebound vs Merrimack on Tuesday at 7pm at Fifth Third Arena.
