NASSAU, Bahamas -- The University of Dayton men's basketball team fell to No. 4 Virginia at the Bad Boys Mowers Battle4Atlantis on Thanksgiving afternoon by a score of 66-59. Dayton jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but Virginia fought back to take its first lead of the game with 5:58 in the first half, and the Flyers didn't take back the lead for the remainder of the game.

Dayton trailed by just four points with 1:29 left in the game following an Obi Toppin dunk, but De'Andre Hunter connected on a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired the next possession for Virginia and the Cavaliers made three free throws in the final 37 seconds to lock up the win.

Josh Cunningham led Dayton with 15 points and also added five rebounds. The Flyers will take on Oklahoma in the third place game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
 
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Virginia 27, Dayton 22

• Dayton raced out to a 7-0 lead behind a pair of Trey Landers layups and a Jalen Crutcher 3-pointer. The Flyers also forced Virginia to miss its first seven field goal attempts.
• Virginia took its first lead of the game at the 5:58 mark in the first half with a De'Andre Hunter layup that put the Cavaliers up 18-17.
• Josh Cunningham made a bucket to tie the game back up at 20-20 with 2:26 to play in the half, but Virginia followed with a 7-0 run to help the Cavaliers hold a 27-22 lead heading into halftime.

2nd Half: Virginia 66, Dayton 59

• Trey Landers opened the second half with a lay-in to bring Dayton back within a single possession and then Dayton and Virginia traded baskets to bring the score to 29-26, but even though the Cavaliers never led by more than nine, the three-point deficit was the closest the Flyers would get for the remainder of the game.
• Dayton went on a mini 4-0 run capped off by an Obi Toppin dunk that brought the score to 60-56 with just 1:29 to play, but De'Andre Hunter made a 3-pointer with as the shot clock expired the following possession for Virginia to push the Cavalier lead back to seven.
• Ty Jerome, Kihei Clark and Braxton Key each made a free throw for Virginia in the final 37 seconds of the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Neither team ever led by double digits. Dayton's largest lead was 7-0 with 15:33 in the first half and Virginia saw its lead extend to nine on three different occasions in the second half.
• Virginia had a large advantage at the free throw line with 22 attempts at the charity stripe compared to just eight free throw attempts for Dayton. The Cavaliers shots 17-of-22 (77%) from the line, while the Flyers went 4-for-8 (50%).
• Dayton outshot Virginia from the floor by connecting on 25-of-46 (54%) of its field goals, while the Cavaliers shot 21-for-49 (43%).
• The Cavaliers came into the game limiting their opponents a .360 FG%.
• Josh Cunningham (15 points), Obi Toppin (13), and Jalen Crutcher (11) each scored in double figures for the Flyers.
•  Crutcher also had seven assists with just one turnover.
• Ryan Mikesell led Dayton with six rebounds, while Trey Landers had three of Dayton's six steals.
• Virginia's De'Andre Hunter led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers.
• Turnovers proved to be UD's Achilles heel.  The Flyers committed 14 for the game, including 11 in the first half.
 
 
UP NEXT
• Dayton takes on Oklahoma in the Battle4Atlantis third-place game tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
• The Flyers return home to host 15th-ranked Mississippi State on Friday, Nov. 30.  Game time is 7 p.m. ET.