Mocs Lead Wire to Wire in NIT 2nd Rd Win Over UD

Three days after dispatching Florida Atlantic in the NIT 1st Rd in Boca Raton, FL, the Dayton Flyers were once again a displaced #1 seed in the NIT as they traveled to UT-Chattanooga on Saturday for a 2nd Rd battle of A10 and SoCon teams. In a contest the Flyers never led, the Mocs proved too much for Dayton and scored in abundance over 40 minutes to drop the Flyers 87-72 and move on to the NIT 3rd Rd. UD's season ends at 23-11. Chattanooga improves to 26-9.
Chattanooga came into the contest losers in the SoCon semifinals as the #1 seed. Fifth-seeded Furman beat the Mocs 80-77 in OT, but UTC rebounded with a 109-103 3OT win at Middle Tennessee in the NIT 1st Rd.  Saturday's game against UD was the first time UTC hosted a postseason matchup since the 1987 NIT against Cleveland State. UD and UT-Chattanooga last met in 2015 when the Mocs topped the Flyers 61-59 at UD Arena in a game Dayton shot an anemic 14-26 at the foul line. Kendall Pollard led all scorers with 20pts in the defeat. The teams have met 11 previous times with the Flyers holding a 8-3 lead in the series that dates back to 1949.
The Mocs opened up a 5-0 lead before Nate Santos nailed a trey at the top of the key to get the Flyers on the scoreboard. UD had trouble getting stops early in the game just like at FAU, falling behind 15-9 on late rotations on defense. Santos converted an and-1 to cut the deficit in half, but the Mocs threw the ball inside and rebuilt a 21-16 advantage. Zed Key missed a pair of free throw...