The Dayton Flyers will play for the Atlantic 10 championship on Sunday thanks to a gritty 56-52 win over Rhode Island on Saturday. Archie Miller's team will shoot for the title against VCU, which dispatched No. 1 seed Davidson earlier in the day.
Atlantic 10 Tournament results and bracket 2015: Dayton outlasts Rhode Island, 56-52
The sweethearts of the 2014 NCAA Tournament are back, and they’re looking to kickstart their March run with a conference tournament championship.
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The No. 2 Flyers shot just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc and had no player score more than 12 points, but they won thanks in large part to forcing 21 Rhode Island turnovers. That number wound up being four larger than the number of field goals the Rams made.
Senior star Jordan Sibert led the way for UD, scoring a team-high 12 points to go along with five assists and five steals. Junior forward Dyshawn Pierre was the only other Flyer who scored in double-figures, netting 10 points and snagging nine rebounds.
E.C. Matthews led Rhode Island with 16 points, but shot just 6-of-16 from the field and turned the ball over four times.
Dayton, which made a Cinderella run to the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 last season, will now be looking to win its first A-10 tournament title since 2003. The Flyers have played in the championship game twice between then and now, falling to Xavier in 2004 and to Richmond in 2011. A title would be an especially sweet capper for this season, which has seen injuries and suspensions leave UD with just six players on scholarship and no players taller than 6'6.
Bracket
An updated and downloadable tournament bracket can be found here.
Schedule and results (all times Eastern)
Wednesday, March 11 (First round)
Game 1: No. 12 Fordham 71, No. 13 George Mason 65
Game 2: No. 11 Duquesne 61, No. 14 Saint Louis 55
Thursday, March 12 (Second round)
Game 3: No 9. La Salle 76, No. 8 Massachusetts 69
Game 4: No. 5 VCU 63, No. 12 Fordham 57
Game 5: No. 7 St. Bonaventure 60, No. 10 Saint Joseph's 49
Game 6: No. 6 George Washington 73, No. 11 Duquesne 55
Friday, March 13 (Quarterfinals)
Game 7: No. 1 Davidson 67, No 9. La Salle 66
Game 8: No. 5 VCU 70, No. 4 Richmond 67
Game 9: No. 2 Dayton 75 No. 7 St. Bonaventure 71
Game 10: No. 3 Rhode Island 71, No. 6 George Washington 58
Saturday, March 14 (Semifinals)
Game 11: No. 5 VCU 93, No. 1 Davidson 73
Game 12: No. 2 Dayton 56, No. 3 Rhode Island 52
Sunday, March 15 (Championship)
No. 2 Dayton vs. No. 5 VCU, 1 p.m., CBS
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