Dayton Flyers

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Dec. 7, 2010

DAYTON, Ohio – Chris Johnson had 18 points and the Flyers used a second-half comeback to edge Central Connecticut State 63-61 on Tuesday night at UD Arena.

Johnson sparked the Flyers’ rally as 13 of his points came after halftime while grabbing 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior Josh Parker, starting in place of point guard Juwan Staten, was the next Flyer in double-figures with 16 points while recording a career-high eight assists.  Staten was a game-time decision to sit out due to an injured toe.

Averaging 68 percent from the free throw line coming into Tuesday’s game, the Flyers went 16-for-19 to shoot a season-best 84 percent from the line. Johnson and Parker accounted for the bulk of UD’s free throws as Johnson went 6-for-6 and Parker went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

The Flyers shot  32 percent from the field in the first half with 10 turnovers to go into halftime down 29-23. Coming out of the break, the Blue Devils quickly extended its lead to nine points, 34-25. Dayton stormed back with Johnson and Chris Wright scoring all of UD’s points in a 12-2 run to regain the lead, 37-36, less than five minutes into the half.

Dayton and Central Connecticut State battled back and forth through a total of 11 lead changes in the second half. Johnson gave UD the final lead of the game by draining two free throws to give the Flyers a 61-59 advantage with 52 second remaining. Parker hit another two free throws with 19 second to go.  With the last possession of the game the Blue Devils had a chance to tie or take the lead but missed two field goals to give UD a 63-61 victory.

Central Connecticut State (4-4) shot 44 percent from the field as Markeys Deans lead all scorers with 22 points.

The Flyers improved to 7-2 on the season while outrebounding the Blue Devils, 37-to-27. Dayton returns to action this Saturday in Norfolk, Va., facing Old Dominion at 4 p.m. ET. The game will be locally televised on WHIO-TV.