Obi Toppin scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Jalen Crutcher sparked a second-half run to finish with 21 points to lead No. 6 Dayton to an 81-67 victory over Rhode Island on Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.
The win kept the Flyers undefeated in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Dayton (22-2, 11-0) notched its 13th straight victory, and the Flyers set a new standard by opening with 11 conference victories in a row to start a season.
The matchup between the top two teams in the conference was a physical and talkative game that included seven technical fouls.
Rhode Island (18-6, 10-2) had its 10-game winning streak snapped in the first of two matchups between the conference teams. Fatts Russell finished with 19 points and Tyrese Martin added 15 points and eight boards for the Rams.
The Flyers pulled away early in the second half capped by an 8-0 run, with Toppin's two-handed slam followed by Rodney Chatman's behind-the-back pass in the lane to Trey Landers that gave the Flyers a 57-39 lead. Three minutes later, Toppin's left-handed slam padded the lead to 59-41.
Dayton built a 63-42 lead on the strength of a 14-3 run to pull away after Russell, the leading scorer in the conference, left the game for a few minutes early in the second half with a cut over his right eye before returning to the floor.
The Flyers rode a strong start to a dominating first half. Led by six points from Toppin, Dayton scored the first 17 points to take control of the game. The Rams finally puts some points on the board on Cyril Langevine's tip-in at the 14:31 mark. Landers scored on a layup to give the Flyers a 29-10 lead but the Rams battled back to cut the deficit to 42-33 on a jumper by Jeff Dowtin.
The Flyers led 49-35 at the half.
--Field Level Media
Rhode Island | Dayton | |
Fatts Russell 19 | Scoring | Obi Toppin 22 |
Jeff Dowtin 4 | Assists | Rodney Chatman 4 |
Cyril Langevine 13 | Rebounds | Trey Landers 14 |
Jeff Dowtin 7 | Free Throws Made | Jalen Crutcher 9 |
Fatts Russell 2 | Steals | Trey Landers 2 |
Cyril Langevine 2 | Blocks | Ryan Mikesell 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Rhode Island | 67 | 28.8 | 3-15 | 26-38 | 10 | 37 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
Dayton | 81 | 50.0 | 5-19 | 22-26 | 15 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 14 |