Jan. 2, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio 

London Warren scored six points in the second overtime, including a big free throw, to lead No. 20/23 Dayton to an 83-81 victory over Akron on Wednesday night.

The Flyers (12-1), who entered the Top 25 for the first time this season on Monday, extended their winning streak to 11 games.

With four seconds remaining in the second overtime, Warren hit a free throw to give Dayton an 82-79 lead that the Zips couldn't overcome.
Kurt Huelsman led the Flyers with 18 points, while Brian Roberts added 17 and Marcus Johnson 16. Johnson tallied eight of his points in the overtime periods to lead all Flyers.

Jeremiah Wood led the Zips (10-3) with 21 points, while Nick Dials had 19.

Warren came off the bench in the second overtime, and hit two quick buckets to spark the Flyers. With Dayton leading 81-79 and six seconds left, Dials missed a 3-point attempt. Warren got the rebound and was fouled by Steve McNees, setting up Warren's crucial free throw.

But the drama wasn't over.

After Warren hit the free throw to make it 82-79, Marcus Johnson fouled Dials with three seconds remaining. Dials hit the first and missed the second on purpose in hopes of getting the rebound, but failed to hit the rim, giving the Flyers the ball.

Dayton inbounded to Huelsman at half court, and he was fouled by Quade Milem with two seconds remaining. Huelsman hit one of two free throws to give Dayton an 83-80 lead, but Charles Little fouled Dials with 0.2 seconds left.

Dials hit the first, but the second bounced high off the back of the rim, and time ran out.

Dayton pounded the ball inside over and over, slipping it to the 6-foot-10 Huelsman who used his body to back into and over Wood.

Roberts had been averaging 19.3 points a game and poured in 31 points Saturday when the Flyers upset then-No. 6 Pittsburgh. But Akron put a suffocating defense on him, often double-teaming him and holding him to 3 points in the first half.

Roberts also got into early foul trouble, picking up his second at 13:10 of the first half and forced to the bench for 10 minutes.

Akron's pesky defense disrupted Dayton's rhythm and kept the Flyers out of sync for much of the game. The Zips clawed and scratched away at the Flyers, getting eight steals and seven blocked shots.

Gregory tried multiple combinations of players, but couldn't seem to get the right chemistry.

Dayton got out to an 8-2 lead in the first half, but Akron scored eight unanswered points, and a seesaw battle was on. With Dayton leading 27-25, the Zips scored the next eight points, including a layup by Quade Milum at the buzzer that gave Akron a 33-27 halftime lead.