Summary
The Dayton Flyers were given all that they could handle from UMass, but they prevailed in the end, 75-72. The win puts Dayton in the semifinals for the first time since the 2016 season.
UMass came out firing on all cylinders, going up by as many as 11 in the first half. Eventually, Malachi Smith and DaRon Holmes led the charge for the Flyers, coming back and making it a two point game going into the half.
Both teams traded blows in the second half, taking it all the way down to the wire. A steal by Toumani Camara with under a minute left led to a pass to an open Smith that put him at the line, where he would make two free throws. Eventually, Dayton would be up by three with UMass having possession. The big story of the game was the “no-foul” call on Dayton on a Noah Fernandes three point attempt. This was a questionable play where the officials called it a foul before the shot, which put Fernandes at the line to shoot two instead of three. Because Dayton was up three,…