Atlantic 10 Semifinals Recap

(W1) Dayton 58, (W3) Richmond 56
It was a thrilling conclusion to the third showdown between Dayton and Richmond.

Dayton jumped out to a big lead early as threes from Ramod Marshall, Marques Bennett and Mark Jones helped the Flyers open a 15-5 lead. The key for Dayton in their first half was their defense as they held the Spiders to just eight points in the first 12 minutes of play.

Sean Finn dominated the inside pulling down six boards and scoring nine to carry the Flyers to a 32-15 lead at the break.

Early in the second half, Dayton was able to extend their lead to 18 as they used a three from Marshall to keep control of the tempo. That’s when Richmond stepped up their defensive pressure.

The Spiders forced 10 turnovers and had six steals in the second half as they constantly pressured the Flyers. Richmond’s pressure allowed them to fight their way back into the game with a 26-8 run over the next 14 minutes as the Flyers made just one field goal during that stretch.

“There were definitely two different halves tonight,” Dayton head coach Brian Gregory said. “They really came after us in the second half. You have to give our guys a lot of credit for showing poise at the end.”

With the score tied at 52, Marshall hit a pair of free throws and Finn hit one of two to put Dayton back up three.

Tony Dobbins hit a pull up jumper to cut the lead back to one, but Monty Scott was able to get a runner to drop as the Flyers maintained their three point lead.

Kevin Steenberge cut the lead back down to one on a putback basket and Keith Waleskowski made one of two free throws for Dayton to put them back up two and set up the final play.

Tony Dobbins, who hit the game-winner against Kansas earlier this season, took control again and just missed a runner in the lane. He grabbed his own offensive board, but his fadeaway jumper at the buzzer missed and the Flyers advanced to take on archrival Xavier in the championship game.

“Dobbins has taken every big shot for them this season,” Gregory said. “We played great defense on him during that final possession.”

Finn finished with 17 points and 12 boards for his sixth double double this season to lead the Flyers.

(W4) Xavier 70, (W2) George Washington 47
The Musketeers continued their offensive explosion, running their third team off the court in as many nights. Xavier was powered by 11 made three-pointers, many of those coming from senior guard Lionel Chalmers, who finished the night with 26 points. Chalmers was the lead man as Romain Sato and Justin Doellman chipped in with 18 anf 14 points respectively. The Colonials, who started the first four minutes of the game matching Xavier shot for shot, fell apart quickly, as the Musketeers went on a 22-4 run in the first half to build their lead and hold on for the victory.