The largest crowd of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Sunday at PPG Paints Arena was dominated by — surprise — Dayton.

As they say, “The Flyers travel well.”

But that massive sea of red-and-blue couldn’t will its beloved basketball team to a victory in the championship game against a game VCU club seeking its third A-10 title in four years.

That’s right, the Rams, playing in the final for a fourth straight time, served notice as to who is the top dog in the league — again — with a 70-62 victory to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

Playing before a meager gathering of fans behind the VCU bench and that boisterous throng of Dayton faithful, the Rams rode three double-digit scorers, led by Nyk Lewis’ 17 points, to the deciding victory.

Lewis, who shot 5 for 10, including 4 for 5 from 3-point range, also led the way in rebounding for the Rams with 11.

Tournament MVP Terrence Hill Jr. added 14 points, and Michael Belle finished with 12 for VCU (27-7).

Dayton (23-11) was led by Javon Bennett’s 14 points. Amael L’Etang, whose last-second basket propelled the Flyers to a one-point victory over top-seed Saint Louis in the semifinals, added 12.

Jordan Derkack led the Flyers in rebounding with 10.

It marked the fourth conference championship for VCU, the preseason favorite, since joining the A-10 in 2012.

VCU built 16-point leads on four occasions in the second half, the last at 55-39 with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left.

Dayton crawled back within seven three times, including 69-62 with 26 seconds to go. But VCU’s parade to the foul line — the Rams converted 10 of 14 in the final 2:02 — prolonged the Flyers’ agony and helped preserve the victory.

These titans met head-on from the opening tip.

VCU broke out to a 5-0 lead, and Dayton punched back. They stayed within arm’s length of each other for the better part of the first half before VCU began to separate.

Lewis’ 3-pointer powered the Rams to their first double-digit lead, and Tyrell Ward followed with a dunk at the 3:40 mark to make it 33-21.

It didn’t stop there. VCU continued its offensive assault, finishing the first half on a 7-2 run to go into the break with a seemingly comfortable 40-25 lead.

That 15-point lead stood when VCU’s Belle rejected Bennett’s layup attempt just before time expired in the first half.