Jalen Crutcher recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 assists, helping pick up the slack while Obi Toppin was in foul trouble, and No. 20 Dayton escaped with an 80-67 win over Saint Joseph's on Sunday in Philadelphia.
The Flyers (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) had not won at Saint Joseph's since 2000, but Dayton's win did not come without a challenge.
Saint Joseph's (3-11, 0-2) forged a 33-33 halftime tie and remained within single digits for much of the second half. The Hawks took advantage of Dayton star forward Toppin being in foul trouble, paced by Ryan Daly's 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
Cameron Brown (16 points) and Myles Douglas (15 points) contributed to the upset bid.
Toliver Freeman scored on a put-back with 11:14 remaining to cut Dayton's lead to 48-47, then Brown made a basket after a pair of free throws from Dayton's Rodney Chatman to keep the Hawks within one.
The Flyers responded from there with what proved to be the decisive run.
Trey Landers, Crutcher, then Ibi Watson sank 3-pointers in succession that extended the Dayton advantage to 10 points. Saint Joseph's never came closer than five points after that stretch.
The Hawks have lost 10 of their past 11 games.
Five Flyers scored in double figures, with Ryan Mikesell and Landers setting the pace at 18 points apiece. Landers also grabbed nine rebounds.
Watson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds. Toppin finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, despite playing just 21 minutes. He was whistled for his fourth foul with 14:40 remaining in the game.
Toppin avoided fouling out and helped put the game away with a thunderous, reverse dunk along the baseline with under two minutes to go.
Dayton scoring its first win at Saint Joseph's in 20 years came just three days after the Flyers opened Atlantic 10 play with their first win at La Salle since 2011.
--Field Level Media
Dayton | St. Joseph's (PA) | |
Trey Landers 18 | Scoring | Ryan Daly 22 |
Jalen Crutcher 10 | Assists | Ryan Daly 7 |
Trey Landers 9 | Rebounds | Ryan Daly 12 |
Ibi Watson 5 | Free Throws Made | Ryan Daly 4 |
Jalen Crutcher 2 | Steals | Lorenzo Edwards 1 |
Rodney Chatman 1 | Blocks | Lorenzo Edwards 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Dayton | 80 | 44.3 | 9-29 | 17-18 | 17 | 34 | 4 | 5 | 8 |
St. Joseph's (PA) | 67 | 40.0 | 10-26 | 13-22 | 13 | 32 | 5 | 3 | 12 |