Davidson rally falls short against Dayton in 80-74 loss

With seven minutes left in Tuesday’s game and his team on the wrong end of a 19-0 run, Jack Gibbs went to the free-throw line.

He missed his first shot. The Dayton home crowd roared.

But Gibbs made his second shot – and then hit four 3-pointers in two minutes to help jump-start an improbable late rally. The Wildcats shot 10-of-14 down the stretch to pull within four points, 78-74, with 13.8 seconds left before falling 80-74 at UD Arena.

The first half featured 10 lead changes, Gibbs scored 18 first-half points, and Davidson (10-5, 2-2 Atlantic 10) entered halftime with a 36-33 lead. Dayton (13-3, 3-1 Atlantic 10) came out strong in the second half, building an 18-point lead to put the game just out of reach despite Davidson’s late surge.

“The game wasn’t over,” coach Bob McKillop said. “We’re an explosive, offensive team and we can make shots – it’s just a matter of doing it. I’m very, very happy and pleased with the effort our guys made, and disappointed it didn’t result in a W.”

THREE WHO MATTERED

Jack Gibbs: Even without scoring from the field for nearly 13 minutes, the Davidson guard still managed a game-high 31 points.

Scoochie Smith: The Dayton guard had 13 first-half points and finished with 18. Three other Dayton players (Kyle Davis, Dyshawn Pierre and Kendall Pollard) scored in double digits.

Peyton Aldridge: The Davidson forward had 10 second-half points, 7 during the Wildcats’ late rally, to keep them in the game. He finished with 15.

OBSERVATIONS

▪ Gibbs’ parents, friends, grandmother, high school friends and AAU coach were all in attendance, greeting him in the stands after the game. Gibbs is from Westerville, Ohio, about 90 miles from Dayton.

▪ Dayton played without leading scorer Charles Cooke (15.7 points per game) after he suffered an oblique injury in Monday’s practice.

WORTH MENTIONING

▪ Tuesday marked the first time in 10 games this season that Davidson lost after leading at the half (36-33 halftime lead).

▪ This was also Davidson’s first close loss of the season (6 points); the Wildcats were previously 6-0 in games decided by 10 points or less.

THEY SAID IT

“Up 19 with 6:51 left, you have to find a way to have better maturity and concentration when you have those leads, because they go away quickly, as you can see.” – Dayton’s Archie Miller

“We just needed to fight any way we could, and we just ran out of time today. I thought once we buckled down and made some stops, we saw how good we could be, but we just need to have that mentality to do it at all times.” – Davidson’s Jack Gibbs

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Davidson rally falls short against Dayton in 80-74 loss."