Holmes has fun with win; Grant: ‘All for it’
Center dances, bows, moves into 17th on UD’s all-time scoring list.
DAYTON — DaRon Holmes II blocked a shot into the stands near the Flyer Pep Band in the final minute and waved goodbye to the ball.
Holmes danced a little jig of sorts as he took the ball up the court to shoot free throws in the final seconds. He then bowed to the crowd at center court as the final buzzer sounded in a 78-70 victory against Fordham on Saturday afternoon at UD Arena.
Moments later, Holmes ran past the Red Scare student section, as the Dayton Flyers do after every home victory, and stopped to pose for a photo with the Pilot, the Flight Attendants and the Blue Men who make up the front row.
“They’re here for us every home game,” Holmes said. “They’re loud, and they really help us. So I always try to give back.”
No one’s having a better time this season than Holmes, an All-America candidate who’s the star of the nation’s 16th-ranked team, even if the tension level in recent games has matched the fun level.
“That’s great to see,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “That’s what it should be.”
Grant was asked Tuesday after a 75-59 victory against St. Bonaventure if he was having fun this season, and he said he’s too focused on the task at hand and the goals his team has yet to achieve to appreciate the moment. He hopes his players have a different attitude.
“I told them, ‘Hey, let me be the grumpy old man that’s just locked in and focused,’” Grant said. “You guys enjoy this. Have fun with it. It’s a game, right? I want them to enjoy it. On a day where we didn’t necessarily play great and I think, individually, some guys felt, ‘I wanted to do better,’ you found a way to put yourself in a position where
you’re undefeated at home. You got your 21st win. You control your destiny moving forward in terms of playing for a championship in the regular season and trying to get a No. 1 seed heading into the tournament. All the things that you’ve worked and sacrificed to do are in front of you. Man, that’s fun. That’s great. So enjoy that. If you have the ability to be able to do that in a way that doesn’t distract from what we’ve got to do on the court, I’m all for it.”
The 13,407 fans in a sellout crowd Saturday ate too many fingernails to have a good time. The Flyers (214, 11-2) had never lost to Fordham at home — and still haven’t in 17 games — but flirted with their first loss at home this season and their first bad loss on their NCAA tournament resume.
Dayton completed a 2-0 week at home and moved into first place by itself in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Flyers have a half-game lead over Richmond (18-7, 10-2), which won 90-74 at George Washington on Saturday. Loyola Chicago (18-7, 10-2), which plays at Rhode island today, shares second place with Richmond.
Dayton led 44-35 at halftime and pushed its advantage to 46-35 on a basket by Holmes on its first possession of the second half. Fordham (10-15, 4-8) answered with a 14-2 run in the next four minutes.
Dayton regained the lead when Kobe Elvis scored on a layup on its next possession. The Flyers didn’t trail again, but it was tied at the 14:05 mark and again at the 6:22 mark.
The Flyers secured the victory thanks to Holmes scoring seven of his 29 points in the last four minutes. He made 10 of 13 field goals and 8 of 12 free throws. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his eighth double-double of the season.
Holmes passed Johnny Davis (1,562) to move into 17th place on Dayton’s alltime scoring list with 1,572 points.
“We tried to blitz him in the first half,” Fordham coach Keith Urgo said, “and that didn’t work out as well as we had hoped. He’s such a good, skilled passer. We tried to adjust and maybe pick up a little bit more in the full court in the second half so he couldn’t establish position early and we didn’t have to play as much full clock. They do such a great job of wearing you out over the course of 25 to 30 seconds on the clock. So I think we did a much better job of forcing him on the perimeter, but he’s gotten so good with the ball in his hands — almost like a point forward — that it’s really tough to stop. So we decided we were going to try to take everybody else away and hope that he would struggle at least at some point. Unfortunately, he only missed three shots.”
Fordham kept it close by making 13 of 15 free throws and grabbing 11 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points. Dayton made 17 of 25 free throws and had 10 second-chance points on five offensive rebounds.
The Flyers won by again limiting turnovers (six to Fordham’s 10) and finishing shots (20 of 27 from 2-point range).
Japhet Medor and Kyle Rose each scored 17 for Fordham, which lost its third straight game. The Flyers have won 20 of the last 21 in the series.
“You’ve got to give credit to Coach Grant and their staff,” Urgo said. “Obviously, this environment is one of the best in the country. I’ve been fortunate to coach at Villanova and Penn State, and I’ve traveled and played in the best arenas in the country with the best crowds. This is as good, if not better, than almost all of them. You know that. That’s why I’m really proud of our guys. They didn’t let that faze them.”