The University of Dayton Flyers exited the possibility of an NCAA Tournament Bid after the Richmond Spiders beat Davidson 64-62.
The No. 2 seeded Dayton lost freshman point guard, Malachi Smith on Sunday, after he injured his ankle on the final play of the first half and did not return for the game. The No. 6 seeded Richmond Spiders came to benefit from this loss to Dayton's starting lineup as the Spiders came back from a 15 point deficient.
Dayton was leading the contest 33-25 right before Smith's injury took place in the first half. Upon the beginning of the second half the Flyers took a 42-27 lead.
Although Dayton shot better overall from the field, 51.9% to Richmond's 35.7%, ultimately the Flyers committed 12 turnovers in which the Spiders scored 12 points as a result.
After a back and forth battle for the remainder of the second half, The Spiders ultimately claimed the win and advanced to the A-10 championship game for the first time since 2011. After winning the A-10 title game against Davidson, Richmond received the bid to the NCAA tourney and Dayton was the last team eliminated from going to the big dance.
Although the Flyers did not make the NCAA tournament they did make the NIT tournament for the third time out of the five seasons that Grant has been a coach. The Flyers are the overall number one seed in the NIT.
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