
Dayton received a much more balanced effort in the half, as the Flyers shot 45.2 percent and got 12 points from their bench, compared to zero for the Hawks.
The teams would emerge from the locker rooms and begin trading shots, as neither squad found itself able to build much of a lead.
With the game knotted at 55 with 8:54 remaining, the Hawks would go on a 6-1 run to take a 61-56 lead before Halil Kanacevic picked up his fourth foul, forcing the forward to the bench.
With Kanacevic looking on, Saint Joseph’s would grow its lead to 66-60 before going ice cold over the final minutes.
The Flyers rallied over the final four minutes and change, taking a 67-66 lead with 39 seconds left. Ice water was running through Langston Galloway’s veins however, as he knocked down a step back three with 19 seconds left to put the Hawks ahead, as they held on for a 70-67 win.
“This team, they trust me with the ball at the end of the game and I just tried to make a play. I made a step back and just got enough room to shoot it,” Galloway said.
Galloway led all scorers, as he tallied 31 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Freshman DeAndre’ Bembry pitched in 15 points, while Kanacevic finished with 9 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
“I was just excited for my players. That literally was a fistfight, and it was a fistfight for 40 minutes. I asked them to fight for 40 minutes and they gave me everything that they had,” said Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli.
Saint Joseph’s will now face off with St. Bonaventure in the semifinals Saturday at 1:30, after the Bonnies knocked off top-seeded St. Louis earlier in the afternoon on a buzzer beater.
“The A-10 is a tough conference. Every team is tough, from the bottom of the league to the top of the league,” said Kanacevic. “Is St. Louis a great team? Yes. But St. Bonaventure is no doormat. We’re worried about ourselves first and then we have to worry about them.”
By: Kyle Babcock
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