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DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team registered a 70-58 win over visiting Miami University Saturday night at UD Arena in front of a capacity crowd of 13,435 – the 97th sold out crowd in Dayton history. The win snapped a two-game losing streak and gave the Flyers their fifth consecutive win over the RedHawks (3-5). Dayton (6-2) leads the all-time series 68-61 – the 129 meetings are the second-most in program history.
Senior Chris Wright led UD with 18 points and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double and the 16th of his career – to go along with two assists, two blocks and two steals. Junior Paul Williams added 15 points with the help of 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range.
Freshman Juwan Staten had 12 points on 2-of-3 from the field and a career-high eight free throws. Staten also dished a game-high eight assists. Senior Devin Searcy rounded out UD’s double-figure scoring corps with 10 points on 5-of-5 from the floor.
The first half saw five ties and four lead changes between the RedHawks and Flyers. Miami led by as many as six, 30-24, with 1:49 to play in the first stanza until Williams hit a layup and a three – both on assists from Staten – to cut the MU lead to 30-29 with 47 seconds to go in the half. Julian Mavunga, who led Miami with 18 points, hit a clutch three with four seconds left to give Miami a 33-29 lead at the half.
The Flyers came alive to start the second half, and had a seven-point lead with 11:02 to play on freshman Brandon Spearman’s layup to make it 49-42.
Miami stuck around though and even took a one-point lead on Chris McHenry’s three-pointer with 7:34 to play. A free throw by redshirt sophomore Josh Benson tied it for the Flyers with 7:07 to play, the seventh time the game was tied in the contest.
On UD’s next offensive possession Williams hit a trey, on an assist from redshirt junior Josh Parker, to put the Flyers up 55-52. Dayton never lost the lead after. Parker finished the game with six assists.
Staten was 6-of-6 from the line in the final 2:30 of the game to help UD pull away. Benson took a charge with 1:48 to play with Dayton up 65-57 to help the Flyers keep the momentum.
Dayton edged Miami 33-32 on the boards thanks to a defensive rebound by Wright with eight seconds left in the game. UD has outrebounded its opponent in seven of its eight games so far this season.
Dayton closes out its three-game home stand against Central Connecticut State on Tuesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at UD Arena. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio and can also be heard on 1290 Newstalk Radio WHIO. Free live video and audio streams of the broadcast will be available at UD’s official athletics website www.DaytonFlyers.com.
