It happened so quickly, in the midst of so much chaos, that the biggest play of Amael L’Etang’s basketball career already resides inside his mind as more of a blur than clear-cut memory.
L’Etang’s putback with 0.6 seconds to go lifted No. 4 Dayton over top-seeded Saint Louis, 70-69, in Saturday’s Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals at PPG Paints Arena.
Capping a wild finish to the game, the Flyers (23-10) will play the winner of No. 2 VCU and No. 3 Saint Joseph’s at 1 p.m. Sunday in the title game, with an automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
“To be honest, I don’t know what happened,” L’Etang said of the play. “I just tried to do my best to follow the ball and put the ball back in the (hoop).”
L’Etang cleaned up for teammate Jordan Derkack, who scored a game-high 28 points but came up empty on the Flyers’ last-second possession.
THIS WHOLE SEQUENCE.
IT IS DEFINITELY MARCH. pic.twitter.com/eraAwzVoa0
— CBS Sports College Basketball ???? (@CBSSportsCBB) March 14, 2026
While that individual sequence contained a high dosage of drama, so did the last 30 seconds of the game, which featured four lead changes.
With 26 seconds to go, Dayton had gotten within a point of Saint Louis (28-5), but the Billikens committed a five-second inbounding violation that led to a go-ahead, second-chance Flyers 3-pointer, putting Dayton up 68-66.
However, reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Robbie Avila, responsible for the botched inbound, swiftly redeemed himself, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key, getting Saint Louis back in front 69-68 with 6.6 seconds to go.
Derkack took the inbound for Dayton and drove hard to the rim, but his shot was errant. Somehow, L’Etang found the ideal part of the backboard to tip in the loose ball and produce the winning points.
“The ball just bounced perfect off the backboard,” Billikens coach Josh Schertz said. “It hits the rim, we win the game, or anywhere else it goes.”
Schertz took exception to how the game concluded, and now his Billikens squad, which won a share of the A-10 regular-season crown, must hope for an at-large NCAA bid.
Firstly, Schertz was displeased that his frantic attempt to call timeout in the lead-up to Avila’s inbounding turnover went unheard by referee Tony Henderson.
“Tony came over and told me, ‘If you need a timeout, I’ve got you. Just call it.’ I counted to three, started calling timeout, screaming timeout, (but Henderson) ran away, (his) back to me. … Those are key plays in the game, and you’ve got to get those right as a referee.
“You can’t tell me that you got me for a timeout if I need it and then run away, turn your back to me and not give me a timeout.”
Schertz also shared his thoughts on the aftermath of Dayton’s winning basket, which saw play paused because some of the Flyers came off the bench and onto the court.
After L’Etang’s bucket, the officials blew Saint Louis’ ensuing inbound attempt dead, consulting with one another before awarding 0.3 extra seconds on the clock to the Billikens, for a total of 0.6.
“They have a player and an assistant coach on the floor,” Schertz said. “I mean, that’s a technical foul, right?”
Saint Louis made plenty of mistakes on its own, too.
The Billikens committed 18 turnovers, fouled with such regularity as to allow Dayton 29 trips to the charity stripe (with the Flyers making 24) and endured a grueling 10:36 stretch in the second half without a field goal.
With 14:56 remaining in the game, Amari McCottry’s layup made it 48-38 Billikens.
It wasn’t until the 4:20 mark until Saint Louis hit another shot from the field, courtesy of Kellen Thames.
By that point, the Billikens were up 56-55.
“There was a lot before that (final) play that led to us losing that game,” Saint Louis’ Quentin Jones said.
McCottry led the Billikens with 16 points, and Avila finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Derkack scored 12 of his 28 points from the free-throw line, shooting 6 of 12 from the field.
As a team, Saint Louis shot 22 of 51 (43.1%), hitting 35.7% (10 of 28) from deep.
Dayton shot only 34.5% (19 of 55), including 8 of 24 (33.3%) from long range.
The Flyers added 19 points off turnovers, and Saint Louis outrebounded them 35-33.
“We knew it was going to be a battle, and it would take everything in terms of our focus, our energy, our effort,” Flyers coach Anthony Grant said. “Just happy that we were able to find a way.”
Sunday will be Dayton’s sixth appearance in the Atlantic 10 championship game, with the Flyers’ lone win coming in 2003.