Dayton uses 2nd half to pull away on Senior Night over LaSalle

DAYTON — The Dayton Flyers went on a big second half run to pull away from the LaSalle Explorers Tuesday on Senior Night to win, 77-53, at the UD Arena. Team captain Toumani Camara was honored along with three senior managers in pre-game ceremonies.

DaRon Holmes II had a double-double; 16 points and 10 rebounds along with five assists. Camara had 14 points while Mustapha Amzil scored 10 off the bench.

UD led 52-45 with 10:06 to play but outscored the Explorers, 16-2, over a five minute stretch to increase the lead to 68-47.

The Flyers improve to 20-10 overall, 12-5 in the Atlantic 10 and have a clinched a double bye in next week’s Atlantic 10 Championship in Brooklyn.

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Dayton led 33-18 with 3:07 left in the first half but the Explorers scored nine straight points to cut UD’s advantage to 33-27 at halftime.

LaSalle stayed close to start the second half as Rokas Jocius’ three-pointer cut it to 45-39 with 12:57 remaining in the contest. But Koby Brea made a trey out of a timeout and Amzil’s basket pushed it 50-39 with 11:21 to go.

Khalil Brantley’s three cut it 52-45 with just over 10 minutes remaining. But Amzil’s jumper and an alley-oop from Smith to Holmes expanded it to 56-45. Brea and Mike Sharavjamts each made a three-pointer to extend the advantage to 62-45 with 7:09 left.

Brea added another trey and Holmes’ layup gave the Flyers a 68-47 lead. It capped a 16-2 run as Dayton never looked back.

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Brea and Sharavjamts each scored nine points while Kobe Elvis added eight. Malachi Smith had seven points along with 10 assists.

The Flyers shot 64% in the second half, including 7-11 from three-point range. They made nearly 55% of their shots for the game, including 12-23 from beyond the arc. UD also had 18 assists and eight turnovers.

Dayton concludes the regular season Friday night at Saint Louis at 7 p.m. from the Chaifetz Arena.

The game will be broadcast on WHIO Radio. It will also be carried here on WHIO.com.

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