NASSAU, Bahamas -- The University of Dayton men's basketball team defeated Butler by a score of 69-64 in the opening round of the Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Wednesday night.

The Flyers led by as much as 15 points with 4:14 to play following a Josh Cunningham layup that made the score 60-45, but Butler rallied and cut the lead to five points twice in the final minute. Jalen Crutcher and Dwayne Cohill both made a pair of free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the win for the Flyers.

Crutcher (20), Cunningham (18) and Trey Landers (10) all scored in double figures for the Flyers. Cunningham also led the team with eight rebounds.
 
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Dayton 37, Butler 26

• The Flyers made each of their first five shots and took a 13-4 lead, but Butler went on a 9-2 run before the first media timeout to tie up the game at 15 apiece.
•  Dayton held Butler without a field goal for the final 4:21 of the half and finished the half on a 7-0 run to take a 37-26 lead into halftime.

2nd Half: Dayton 69, Butler 64

• Kemar Baldwin made a layup with 17:35 in the second half to cut the Dayton lead to 40-32, but after Jalen Crutcher knocked down a pair of free throws 25 seconds later to push the lead back to double digits, the eight point deficit is the closest Butler would get until the 1:45 mark of the second half.
• Trey Landers knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:13 to play to extend Dayton's lead to 56-41, the team's largest of the game.
• After Jalen Crutcher made a layup to make the score 62-51 with 2:45 to play, Butler made a furious rally and cut the lead all the way down to five with a Jorgensen layup and 33 seconds left to play.
• Jalen Crutcher and Dwayne Cohill both knocked down pairs of free throws in the final 25 seconds, while Jorgensen made a 3-pointer for Butler with under two seconds to reach the final margin of 69-64.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Dayton never trailed in the game
• Dayton out-shot Butler from the floor, as the Flyers were 25-for-46 (54%) and the Bulldogs were 24-for-60 (40%).
• Crutcher scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
• Crutcher also led the team with three assists.
• Ryan Mikesell scored nine points on four-four-shooting, but was limited to 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Jordan Davis had three blocked shots to lead UD.
• Cohill led UD with two steals in just nine minutes of play.

 
UP NEXT
Dayton will take on fourth-ranked Virginia in the semifinals of the Battle4Atlantis on Thanksgiving Day at 4:00 p.m. ET.