By Hal McCoy
Richmond, VA. — Once again, Grant took Richmond.
This time, though, it wasn’t U.S. Grant and the Union Army, it was coach Anthony Grant and the UD Flyers.
For the fifth time during his University of Dayton tenure, Grant took a team into the University of Richmond’s Robins Center and for the fourth time came away a winner Tuesday night.
Barely and luckily, with True Grit.
This one, a 65-60 win with warts, was ultra-important. With a 12-5 Atlantic 10 Conference record, the Flyers clinched a Top Four finish in the standings, meaning they’ve earned a double bye in the A-10 tournament quarterfinals.
To achieve it, the high-flying Flyers won their sixth straight game by fighting and fending off the pesky Spiders the entire second half.
For the Flyers, it was Survive and Overcome Night.
They committed 16 turnovers, eight each half. They gave up 11 offensive rebounds. Their leading scorer, Javon Bennett, scored a season-worst five points with 1 for 9 shooting from the far side of the arc.
But they somehow prevailed.
“Against Richmond, they’re one of those teams with a different style,” said Grant, talking about a team that is now 15-15 and near the bottom of the A-10 at 5-12.
“It is critical to know what you got to do to win, but also what gets you beat,” he added. “You have to avoid those things.”
And the Flyers nearly messed up on the avoidance part.
“At times we put ourselves in danger with the lack of ball security (16 turnovers),” said Grant. “That gave them extra possessions and they’re a real good offensive team. You don’t want to give them extra possessions.
“That wasn’t good today but we were able to overcome that,” he added. “The second part was that they had 11 offensive rebounds, more opportunities for them to have extra possessions.”
The 16 turnovers led to 18 Richmond points and the 11 offensive rebounds helped the Spiders score 32 points in the paint.
The Flyers led all the way until late in the game when they went asleep for three minutes, making only 1 of 8 shots.
And Richmond finally caught up, 56-56, with 5:45 left. Then it was scramble and scrap for the Flyers to scrunch the win.
At 60-60, with a chance to take the lead, Aiden Argabright missed a three but the Spiders retained the ball and Will Johnston missed a three.
And UD’s ever-pesky Jordan Derkack took over.
He drove for a basket with 40.6 seconds left to give the Flyers a 62-60 lead.
Richmond’s Argrbright missed a chippie at the rim and Amael L’Etang rebounded and was fouled. . .but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25 seconds left.
Derkack was fouled and made 1 of 2 with 25 seconds left for a 63-60 UD lead.
Johnston missed a point blank shot at the rim, but Richmond grabbed the rebound and called time with 10.5 seconds left.
Jaden Daughtry drove down an open lane but the Line Montster grabbed him. He tripped and fell near the foul line and Derkack grabbed the ball and was fouled with four seconds left.
His two free throws sealed the deal, lifting the Flyers to 21-9, their sixth straight victory after a four-game losing streak.
DeShayne Montgomery led the Flyers with 15 points and seven rebounds. L’Etang scored 13, his 10th straight game in double figures, plus he added four assists.
Derkack came off the bench to score 13, 7 of 9 from the foul line, where he pitches a tent in every game.
An interesting sidelight was that UD’s Montgomery and Richmond’s Daughtry were teammates at Hargrave Military Academy and they spent the night trash-talking at each other.
Daughtry did not play Richmond’s last game, a 69-66 loss at last place Loyola Chicago because he was late for the pre-game shoot-around.
He came off the bench Tuesday to score 11 points, while AJ Lopez led the Spiders with 15 points.
UD leaped to 17-5 lead to start the game, then Richmond became a shadow over the Flyers’ shoulders.
But UD always had an answer.
***Richmond cut it to 26-22. Jacob Conner buried a three to make it 29-22.
***Richmond cut it to 31-29. Bryce Heard swished a three to make it 34-29.
***Richmond cut it to 40-37. Montgomery hammered home a three from the right corner to make it 43-37.
***Richmond cut it to 43-39. L’Etang scored underneath to make it 45-37.
***Richmond cut it to 45-41. Derkack drove for a basket and made a free throw for the conventional three-point play to make it 48-41.
***Richmond cut it to 48-44. Derkack hit a pair of free throws to make it 50-44.
***Richmond tied it, 56-56. L’Etang scored underneath and Bennett made two free throws to make it 60-56, setting up the final dash to the finish.
“We were able to defend the three-point line because we knew that was going to be critical coming in,” said Grant.
Richmond was one of the A-10’s best at shooting the three, but missed its first eight and was 4 for 23.
“Down the stretch we showed great resiliency and toughness to get stops,” added Grant. “We made the plays we needed to make, got to the line and made our free throws. Jordan (Derkack) did a real good at the end to make sure we secured the win.”
The Flyers made 5 of 6 at do-or-die time and were 15 for 18 for the night.
“We were able to overcome some stuff today and I’m proud of the guys for staying with it and being able to come out with the win,” said Grant.
And that’s how a different Grant took Richmond this time.