PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell behind early and never recovered, falling to No. 2 seed VCU in the Atlantic 10 Championship final, 70-62 at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Flyers (23-11) trailed by as many as 16 in the second half and were able to cut the deficit to single digits, but the deficit proved too much to overcome. Despite holding the Rams without a field goal over the final 8:17, UD never got closer than seven.
 
Senior Javon Bennett led the Flyers in scoring with 14 on the afternoon, while sophomore Amaël L'Etang added 12 points and three assists. Junior De'Shayne Montgomery finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds, while Jordan Derkack had nine points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Bennett and Derkack were both named to the Atlantic 10 All-Tournament team.
 
Dayton shot 43.4% (23-of-53) from the floor for the game, including 33.3% (7-of-21) from the three-point line, but were only able to shoot 52.9% (9-of-17) from the free throw line. VCU, meanwhile, shot 40.4% (23-of-57) overall, 45.8% (11-of-24) from three, and 68.4% (13-of-19) from the charity stripe.

GAME RECAP
 
First Half – VCU 40, Dayton 25

• VCU jumped ahead to a 5-0 lead when sophomore Amaël L'Etang connected from deep to get UD on the board and make it a 5-3 game.
• Redshirt sophomore Jaiun Simon made a pair of free throws to make it a 8-5 game with 16:33 to go in the half.
• Senior Javon Bennett made his first three-pointer of the day to make it a 10-8 game at the 14:00 mark of the game.
• Sophomore Bryce Heard hit a pull-up jumper from just inside the three-point line to tie the score at 10-10.
• VCU responded with a quick 6-0 run that was stopped by a basket in the paint from Simon.
• A three from junior De'Shayne Montgomery made it a 21-17 game with 9:04 left in the half.
• Senior Jordan Derkack got his first basket of the game in the paint to get the Flyers back within five at 24-19.
• The Rams continued to add to their lead, holding UD scoreless for over two minutes before Simon connected on another shot in the paint to make it a 28-21 game.
• L'Etang scored the rest of Dayton's points in the half, with the dust settling at the break with the Flyers trailing 40-25.

 
Second Half – VCU 70, Dayton 62

• The Flyers chipped away at the deficit over the first four minutes, getting a pair of baskets from Bennett, a strong finish from senior Keonte Jones, and a basket from Montgomery to make it 43-33 with 16:39 to go in the game.
• VCU responded with a triple as the shot clock expired to push the advantage back to 13.
• Jones scored three consecutive points for the Flyers with a basket and a free throw, but the Rams kept pace and held the 51-36 advantage with 11:23 to go.
• Jones finished another contested paint shot to make it a 53-29 game with 9:24 to go.
• L'Etang connected on his second triple of the game with 8:30 left to make it a 55-42 game.
• Montgomery made a three with 7:36 remaining to make it a 57-45 score.
• A three from Bennett with 5:10 to go cut the Flyers' deficit to 10 points, 60-50.
• Derkack stopped a two-minute scoring drought with a free throw, making it a 60-51 game with 2:56 to go.
• L'Etang connected on two free throws with 2:02 left to get UD to 60-53 with 2:02 remaining.
• Despite a basket from Bennett and a pair from Derkack, the Flyers trailed 69-59.
• After another made free throw from VCU, senior Jacob Conner made a three-pointer to bring the game to its final of 70-62.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
57.1 – the Rams' shooting percentage from three in the first half (8-of-14).
39 – rebounds for Dayton in the game, out-rebounding the Rams by five.
28 – double-digit scoring games from Javon Bennett this season after scoring 14 points.
10 – rebounds for Jordan Derkack, his second 10+ rebounding effort on the season.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers, 23-11 on the year, will find out their postseason fate on Sunday night.