The Dance is Over, PC Bounced From Tourney

The Providence College men's basketball team (22-12) fell to Dayton (26-8) in the Second Round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on March 21 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Senior LaDontae Henton (Lansing, Mich.) recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.


Sophomore Kris Dunn (New London, Conn.) was charged with two early fouls and headed to the bench just 2:50 into the game (17:10), and would not return to the court until the 12-minute media time out.

Freshman Jalen Lindsey (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) hit a three just 20-seconds later (16:50) to give the Friars a 5-2 lead. It would prove to be Providence's largest lead of the game. Dayton answered with a 10-0 run to take a 12-5 lead with 8:51 to play in the half. Five of Dayton's 10 points in the run came from the free-throw line. Junior Tyler Harris (Dix Hills, N.Y.) halted that 10-point run with a layup to get Providence within five (12-7) with 8:25 on the clock.

Dayton took its largest lead of the half (16-7) with 7:36 to play. Providence answered with an 18-9 run to tie the game, 25-25, with 1:33 remaining. On the Flyer's next possession, Jordan Sibert hit a three pointer to give Dayton a three-point advantage at halftime (28-25). Lindsey led the Friars with six points in the opening 20 minutes, while Henton and Kris Dunn (New London, Conn.) contributed five points each.

Lindsey drained a three-point bucket just 22-seconds into the second half to tie the game, 28-28. Dayton responded with a 16-7 scoring advantage to take a 44-35 lead with 10:23 to play. Providence cut the deficit to three (44-41), but a 12-1 Dayton run over the next 4:44 put the Flyers in control (56-42) with 1:59 left in the contest. Dayton hit 10-of-11 free throws in the final 1:43 to seal the victory.

For the game, Dayton shot 22-30 (73.3-percent) from the charity stripe, while Providence hit 3-7 (42.9-percent). The Flyers also out-scored Providence 17-7 in points off of turnovers.

The Friars finished the game with a 39-32 edge in rebounding, including a 13-3 edge in offensive boards. However, Providence only managed a one-point advantage in second-chance points (6-5).

Lindsey and Dunn joined Henton in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Lindsey was 4-9 from the field, including 4-8 from beyond the three-point arc. Dunn dished a game-high four assists.

This was the Friars 17th appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It was the Friars' second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, as the Friars, a No. 11 seed, were defeaded in the Second Round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament by No. 6 seed North Carolina, 79-77, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.


-Official Release