University of Richmond
Dayton (Atlantic 10 Tournament)
Richmond Ousted By Dayton, 58-56
03/12/2004 | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2004
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Sean Finn did not miss a shot from the field but it was a rare made free throw that proved critical in Dayton's 58-56 win over Richmond in an Atlantic 10 semifinal on Friday night.
Finn, who scored 17 points, made all seven of his shots from the field but was just 3 of 8 at the line a night after missing seven of his eight foul shots in the quarterfinals.
After earlier shooting an airball at the line, Finn made the second of two foul shots with 1:07 left to give Dayton (24-7) a 55-52 lead.
Richmond (20-12) cut the lead to a point when Tony Dobbins, who scored 16 points, hit a turnaround in the lane with just under a minute remaining.
Against the Spiders' relentless defensive pressure, point guard Ramod Marshall drove the lane and passed to Monty Scott for a 10-foot baseline jumper with 26.3 seconds left and a 57-54 lead.
With 18.4 seconds remaining, Kevin Steenberge hit a rebound follow for Richmond to cut the lead to 57-56. Dayton's Keith Waleskowski, who scored 10 points, was fouled on the inbounds pass and made the second of two shots.
The Spiders brought the ball down the floor and Dobbins spun in the lane for a 12-footer with 4 seconds left, but the ball bounced to the left baseline. He retrieved the loose ball and got off another shot with a second left but it was long.
The Flyers, the defending A-10 tournament champions, will meet nemesis Xavier in Saturday night's championship game. The Musketeers, who shocked No. 1-ranked Saint Joseph's 87-67 in the quarterfinals, defeated George Washington 70-47 in an earlier semifinal.
Many in a partisan crowd of 11,566 came out early to boo Xavier in the first game and then stayed to cheer the Flyers in the nightcap.
Finn added 12 rebounds for the Flyers. Marshall had 12 points and five assists.
Steenberge scored 11 points for Richmond, which had won its last four games. The Spiders have never beaten Dayton on the road in five attempts.
The Spiders' leading scorer at 16.4 points a game, Mike Skrocki, was averaging 20 points in his last three games against Dayton. He was limited to seven points on 3 of 13 shooting from the field, including just 1 of 7 3-pointers.
Dayton never trailed after hitting its first five shots while piling up a 13-3 lead in the opening 4:08.
The Flyers led by as many as 18 points with 16:23 left on Mark Jones' 3-pointer.
The Spiders climbed back behind a scrambling matchup zone defense that forced turnovers with backcourt traps.
The Flyers turned it over on three possessions in a row and Steenberge scored inside off an assist to tie it at 52-52 at the 2:21 mark.
Marshall made two foul shots for Dayton with 2:01 left and after the teams traded misses, Finn hit his free throw - fans held up signs saying "You CAN do it!" - to set up the wild finish.
The Flyers have won 13 of their last 17 games, splitting both games with Xavier during the regular season.
