Trey Landers and Obi Toppin each scored 18 points to lead No. 7 Dayton to a 70-56 win against Fordham in Atlantic 10 Conference action on Saturday in Dayton, Ohio.
Rodney Chatman added 10 points for the Flyers (20-2, 9-0), who jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first half and overcame a late rally by the Rams to post their 11th straight victory. Dayton shot 45.1 percent from the field (23-for-51) and tallied 21 assists and just eight turnovers.
Fordham's Jalen Cobb led all scorers with 22 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including 4-for-7 on 3-pointers. Antwon Portley added 10 points for the Rams (7-14, 1-8).
Dayton, whose only losses were in overtime to Kansas and Colorado, equaled its best conference start since also winning its first nine league games in 2003-04.
The Rams managed to cut the deficit to 47-34 on a 3-pointer by Ty Perry with just over 13 minutes remaining, but Toppin scored three straight points to ignite a 9-2 run.
The Rams showed some fight by coming back to lower the margin to 60-48 on Cobb's 3-pointer with 3:57 remaining. Chatman hit four free throws in a 5-0 run to push the lead back to 65-48.
The Flyers set the tone for an easy victory with a fast start. Jhery Matos buried a 3-pointer to give the Flyers an 18-4 lead with 9:50 left in the first half. The Rams struggled finding open perimeter looks and getting rebounds in the opening half, not hitting the double-digit mark until Portley's jumper at the 8:02 mark.
Landers scored on a layup to give the Flyers a 36-17 lead at halftime.
The Rams made just one of their eight 3-point attempts in the first half. The Flyers built a 22-point lead in the opening half by dominating on the boards (23-12) and shooting 13-for-29 (44.8 percent).
--Field Level Media
Fordham | Dayton | |
Jalen Cobb 22 | Scoring | Trey Landers 18 |
Kyle Rose 4 | Assists | Jalen Crutcher 6 |
Joel Soriano 10 | Rebounds | Trey Landers 8 |
Jalen Cobb 2 | Free Throws Made | Rodney Chatman 5 |
Jalen Cobb 2 | Steals | Rodney Chatman 2 |
Kyle Rose 2 | Blocks | Ryan Mikesell 1 |