Dayton Flyers

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - Chris Johnson had career highs with 26 points and 20 rebounds and Dayton opened its Atlantic 10 conference play with a 78-72 overtime victory over Duquesne on Saturday.

Johnson, who had the first time 20-20 game for UD since Ryan Perryman also had 26 and 20 at home against Duquesne on Feb. 25, 1998, carried the Flyers (12-3, 1-0) in the second half with 13 points and six in overtime.  Dayton took a 70-63 lead on Johnson's put-back dunk with 2:43 left.

Jason Duty had a chance to win the game for Duquesne (9-7, 0-2) in regulation when he caught an inbounds pass in the right corner with five seconds left and was fouled while trying to shoot a 3-pointer with 3.5 seconds left. Duty made the first, but missed the next two.

Dayton scored the first seven points of overtime on a three-pointer by Marcus Johnson, a layup by Chris Johnson and a put-back slam by Chris Johnson. The Flyers led by at least five points for the last 3:35 of the overtime.

Chris Wright added 16 points and 11 rebounds for Dayton, and Marcus Johnson had 11 points. Point guard London Warren had eight assists against three turnovers. It was his 50th straight game with at least one assist.

Damian Saunders led Duquesne with 21 points and 11 rebounds for his nation-leading 13th double-double of the season.

The win was UD’s 29th straight at home, the third-best streak in the nation.

At halftime, the University of Dayton Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was honored. Damon Goodwin (basketball), Pat Jayson (three-sport athlete, coach & trainer) and Steve Keller (football) were inducted into the Hall on Saturday.

The Flyers are on the road Wednesday, traveling to New York City to take on Fordham at Madison Square Garden. UD’s 37 wins at the Garden are the second-most of any non-New York area school (Duke has won 38).  The game is the second game of a doubleheader, following the St. John’s-Cincinnati contest. Tip-off for the Dayton-Fordham game is expected to be approximately 9:15 p.m. ET.