This, really, was March at its finest.
Eight points in the final 14 seconds.
A 3-pointer from No. 4 seed Dayton followed by a 3 from top-seeded St. Louis during the Atlantic 10 semifinals Saturday in Pittsburgh.
And all of that chaos was capped by Amael L’Etang managing to tip in a layup attempt from Jordan Derkack that didn’t even hit the rim, somehow sending Dayton to the title game Sunday — where it’ll face VCU — and forcing St. Louis to settle for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
Everything started when Javon Bennett’s shot was blocked from behind by St. Louis, but Dayton managed to collect possession again before Jacob Conner connected on a trey from the left wing with 14 seconds remaining — giving Dayton a 68-66 lead.
Then, moments later, Amari McCottry flipped a pass to Robbie Avila at the top of the key, and he sank a 3-pointer to put St. Louis ahead by one.
By that point, there were 6.6 seconds left.
Dayton didn’t take its timeout.
And instead, Derkack drove to the basket and tried to split a pair of St. Louis defenders, though his layup attempt just floated harmlessly over the basket.
That’s when L’Etang managed to tip the ball in and secure the victory.
After his shot landed, a Dayton player ran onto the court from the bench, and it’s unclear why that wasn’t considered a technical foul with 0.3 seconds remaining — as he was escorted back to the sideline by a member of the staff.
“We had the ball out of bounds to throw in, looking up the court,” Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz said after the game. “Obviously, we couldn’t do that because they had a sixth player plus an assistant on the floor. And again, I don’t know if you have to throw it in and that does it, but they blew it dead before we could anyway.”
Saint Louis’ Quentin Jones couldn’t convert his last-second attempt, positioning Dayton to have a chance to win its first conference title since 2003.
It marked the second time this season that the Flyers have defeated the Billikens, with both victories since Feb. 24 and both essentially saving a season that otherwise wouldn’t have been positioned for a chance at cracking the March Madness field.
The first victory against St. Louis, by 15 points at home, served as the marquee Quad I they’d lacked, as they went 0-5 otherwise.
This one, though, meant they’d still have a chance at the at-large bid, instead of needing to wait as their bubble case was stacked up against others.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
