TOLEDO — The Dayton Flyers looked every bit like the top overall seed in the 2022 National Invitation Tournament (NIT) Wednesday night as they defeated the Toledo Rockets, 74-55.
DaRon Holmes led three players in double with 20 points, making 10-16 shots. Koby Brea had a double-double; 13 points and a career-high, 10 rebounds, while Kobe Elvis had 11 points and eight assists while assuming the role of point guard in place of the injured Malachi Smith who did not play due to an ankle injury.
R.J. Blakney had nine points and four assists. UD’s bench was effective, Moulaye Sissoko had eight points while Kaleb Washington had five points and Mustapha Amzil had two points. The Flyers shot 52 percent from the floor, including 64 percent in the second half. Dayton improves to 24-10 on the season and was their first win the NIT since 2010 NIT Championship game against North Carolina.
Dayton led, 11-8, and held Toledo scoreless over a five minute period as Sissoko scored to put them up five, 13-8. Koby Brea added a pair of baskets to extend UD’s advantage to 19-10. The Flyers pushed the lead to ten points, 30-20, on a pair of baskets by Holmes and led, 34-23, at halftime.
Holmes opened the second half scoring six straight points and Brea buried a three-pointer to expand Dayton’s lead to 43-27. They stretched the advantage to 56-38 but the Rockets scored five straight points, 56-43, with 10:18 left. But that’s as close as they got as the Flyers built it back up to as much as 19 points.
Dayton will play at Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, TN in the Second Round of the NIT on Sunday. Pre-game coverage will start at 2 pm, tip-off is at 3 pm and Flyer Feedback will follow the game on the Home of the Flyers; 1290 and 95-7, WHIO.
You can also listen to the game online here at WHIO.com.