Jalen Crutcher hit a 3-pointer with one minute, 10 seconds left in regulation to break the deadlock and lift Dayton to a 72-67 win over UMass on Sunday at UD Arena.
Crutcher’s shot was the only field goal the Flyers made in the last nine minutes of the game, while the Minutemen forced Dayton to miss eight straight shots. It was the start of a series of small errors UMass made in the final 90 seconds that prevented it from winning.
Keon Clergeot went under a screen that gave Crutcher the room to hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game. Then on UMass’ next possession, Samba Diallo took the dribble handoff and drove the lane before his weak shot fell short and Dayton hit free throws to close out the game.
“(We) did a really, really poor job of executing down the stretch,” coach Matt McCall told WEEI after the game. “Called a play there, was trying to get Samba to throw it ahead and get a slip and drive the slip, but we never really got to that.”
UMass (7-9, 0-3 Atlantic 10) played from behind the entire game after surrendering the first eight points of the afternoon. The Minutemen struggled to close out on Dayton’s shooters and the Flyers (11-5, 3-0 A-10) made 5-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half to boost its overall shooting percentage to 50 percent. Dayton made five of its first six from behind the arc in the second half, but those shots were answered by the Minutemen, who made 7-of-10 from long range in the second half.
But it took until Carl Pierre hit a short hook shot with 5:54 to go for the Minutemen to finally pull level for the first time since the beginning of the game. The basket capped off a four-minute scoreless stretch for Dayton during which UMass only managed to score the five points it needed to tie the game.
Even when Dayton couldn’t make a basket, it found ways to work itself to the free-throw line for points. The Flyers were 10-of-15 from the stripe in the second half while UMass was 3-for-4 for the entire game.
“I mean we shot four free throws to their 21, that’s a huge discrepancy right there,” McCall said. “I’ll have to watch the tape and see why we weren’t getting fouled or getting to the free throw line, but again another game that came down to the wire, and gave ourselves some chances and some opportunities there.”
Luwane Pipkins led the way for the Minutemen with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Pierre chipped in 16 points, 11 of which came in the second half, while Clergeot and Rashaan Holloway both added 10 points each. Clergeot scored the first 10 points of the second half for UMass to jumpstart the Minutemen, who managed to shoot 54.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes.