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Chris Wright shot 12-of-20 from the field and hit 4-of-5 free throws en route to a career-best 28 points. |
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – A career-high 28 points from Chris Wright wasn’t enough as the University of Dayton Flyers had their comeback come up just short in a 60-59 loss to the Saint Joseph’s Hawks.
Wright shot 12-of-20 from the floor and hit four free throws as UD drops to 14-5 overall and 3-2 in the Atlantic 10.
Trailing by one with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, a Rob Lowery game-winning lay-up was blocked to spoil the Flyer comeback bid.
UD trailed by five with 44 seconds remaining, but made enough plays to claw their way back to a one-possession game.
Wright hit a lay-up after a Hawk turnover to cut the deficit to 60-59 with 17 seconds to play. With 13 seconds left in regulation, the Hawks missed a free throw and lost possession. That allowed the Flyers to get one last chance to win, but could not convert at the other end.
Poor outside shooting and turnovers hindered the Flyer offense throughout the contest. Dayton shot 3-of-22 from three-point range and committed 17 turnovers. At one point in the second half the Flyers went 1-for-12 from the floor. The Flyers finished the game 22-for-61, a 36 percent clip from the field.
Wright scored 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor in the first half as the Flyers trailed 34-30. The Hawks led by as many as eight in the first half after the Flyers missed their first 11 shots from beyond the arc and committed 10 turnovers.
London Warren finished the game with six points, a season-high nine rebounds and four assists. Lowery added six points and a career-best five steals, while Kurt Huelsman started in his 119th consecutive game, tying the program record held by Mark Ashman.
Up next for the Flyers is a home contest against the Rhode Island Rams on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Gregory
“I can’t say I’m upset with the loss because when you play like that, you’re supposed to lose. I am upset with the way we played. St. Joe’s might not have the best record, but they were 5-2 at home and have great tradition. You have to play better than that.”
“We played careless basketball. The number one key is to eliminate careless turnovers. We had guys try to make plays all by themselves. Our starters had more turnovers than assists.”
“One-third of our shots were threes. That’s not who we are. Who we are is pretty good, but when we try to do something else the results speak for themselves.”
