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DAYTON -- The No. 22 University of Dayton Flyers defeated the Richmond Spiders 63-60 Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 13,455 at UD Arena. This is the 16th straight win at home for the Flyers. Dayton has also won 16 out of its last 18 regular season Atlantic 10 games.

Dyshawn Pierre led all scorers with 21 points. Kendall Pollard and Scoochie Smith were also in double figures with 14 and 10 points respectively. Kyle Davis finished with eight points and five rebounds and made perhaps the biggest basket of the game on a reverse baseline layup with 19 seconds left.

But it was the defensive effort he produced in holding Richmond's leading scorer, Kendall Anthony, to nine points that cannot be overlooked.  Anthony came in averaging 18.4 points a game in conference play and had reached double figures in eight straight games. 

Both teams started the game with a fast-paced start. Pollard put Dayton on the board first with a basket to give the home team the first advantage of the game. Richmond responded with an inside shot by T.J. Cline. The teams would trade baskets over the next few possessions, until Pollard tipped in a shot to give the home team an 8-6 lead.

Moments later, Sibert tallied his first points of the game with a three-point basket to put Dayton up by five. The Spiders scored the next two baskets to come within one before Pierre's three gave the Flyers a 14-10 advantage. After another Cline basket, Davis brought the lead back to five with a three-point basket to give Dayton a 17-12 lead.

Coming out of the media timeout, Anthony made two free throws to cut the lead to three. Davis drove the lane on the other end to push the Dayton lead back up to five. However, two Richmond baskets would cut the lead to one. Each team traded baskets to allow Dayton's lead to stay at one.

The Flyers proceeded to go on a 7-0 run that ended with a tough basket by Pierre near the paint to put the home team ahead 28-20. Pierre would score seven out of the teams' final nine points in the first half to give Dayton a 37-27 lead heading into the locker room.

The home team controlled the first half of play by shooting 68 percent from the floor and 63 percent from behind the three-point line.  Pierre led the team with 16 first half points.

In the second half, the Spiders climbed their way back into the game. Richmond started the scoring with a three-point basket by ShawnDre' Jones. Pollard would answer with two free throws. However, a few moments later, Deion Taylor finished a three-point play to get Richmond to within six.

Dayton would extend the lead back up to nine, 46-37, before Richmond went on a 10-0 run. Cline had the final eight points during the run to give the Spiders their first lead of the game, 47-46 with just under eleven minutes to play in the contest. Pierre finally ended the run with a basket to give the lead back to the Flyers.

The lead would not last for long as Terry Allen was fouled on his made basket and was able to convert the three-point play to give Richmond a 50-48 lead. Taylor and Anthony each made one of two free throw attempts a short time later to extend the away team's lead to four. 

Pollard responded with two free throws of his own to cut the lead to two, 52-50. With just under five minutes to play, Scoochie Smith hit a big three-point field goal to give Dayton a 53-52 lead. Jones answered with a three-pointer of his own to give the lead back to the Spiders.

After the final media timeout, Pollard was fouled on his layup attempt. He converted both free throw attempts to tie the game. Just under a minute later, Pollard scored a jumper near the basket to give the home team a 57-55 lead with 2:26 to play.

Sibert was fouled on Richmond's next offensive possession, and he converted two free throws to extend the lead to four. Alonzo Nelson-Ododa made a free throw for the away team to cut the lead to three. The Flyers could not capitalize on their next offensive possession, which led to a tough, contested layup by Anthony to cut the Flyer lead to 59-58.

The reverse layup by Davis on the other end brought the lead back up to three. Anthony would then hit two free throws to bring the lead back to one. Richmond was forced to foul Scoochie Smith on the inbounds play, and he converted both of his free throws to seal the 63-60 victory.

The home team was able to win the game despite shooting just 27 percent in the second half. UD shot 48 percent for the game thanks to a torrid 68% from the field in the first half.  Richmond shot 46 percent from the floor for the game (56% in the second half).

The Spiders were led by four players in double figures – 14 points from Cline and 11 each from Allen, Jones and Nelson-Ododa.

With the win, Dayton improves to 16-3 overall and 6-1 in Atlantic 10 play. UD has now won nine of its last 10 games.  Richmond is now 10-9, and 3-3 in the A-10.

The Flyers will be back in action Thursday, January 29th when they travel to Massachusetts to take on the Minutemen. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.