DAYTON -- The University of Dayton men's basketball team defeated the North Florida Ospreys 78-70 in both teams' season opener on Wednesday at UD Arena. The Flyers held the lead for the entirety of the second half.

The Flyers were led by Obi Toppin who achieved a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in his first college game.  Toppin was moved into the starting lineup when resdhirt senior Josh Cunningham, Dayton's MVP a year ago, was injured in practice on Tuesday.  Teammates Jordan Davis (16 points) Trey Landers (15) and Ryan Mikesell (12) scored in double digits as well with Landers also notching a double-double with 10 rebounds.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half: Dayton 41 North Florida 35
• The Flyers came out hot shooting five-for-five in the first four minutes of the game including three explosive dunks by Obi Toppin.
• North Florida took advantage from behind the arc with four three-pointers within the first 10 minutes to take the lead 21-18.
• UD came firing back on an 8-0 run with two impressive fast break finishes to put the score at 26-21.
•A Jordan Davis breakaway dunk and Ryan Mikesell three gave the Flyers their largest lead of the half of nine points at 34-25 with 5 minutes remaining.  
• The Flyers offense benefitted from dynamic play with 15 of their 41 points coming off fast breaks.
• Toppin led all scoring with 12 points and three rebounds in the first half.

2nd Half: Dayton 78 North Florida 70
• Jordan Davis hit back-to-back threes to extend the Flyer lead 55-45 at the 16 minute mark.
• The Ospreys nearly matched their first half foul total (7) with 6 fouls within the first 7 minutes of the half.
• The Flyers had a strong showing on both sides of the ball during an 11-0 run while forcing three turnovers to push the score to 68-48 at the 10 minute mark.
• Teammates Trey Landers and Obi Toppin both had double-doubles before the 10 minute mark.
• UD reached their largest lead of the night (20) with a Landers lay-up to put the score at 68-48.
• North Florida responded with a 15-5 run to cut the lead in half with four minutes remaining.
• The Flyers maintained a double-digit lead for 13 minutes of the second half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Eight of Obi Toppin's 18 points came off of first half dunks.
• Ryan Mikesell led UD with six assists.  It was Mikesell's first game in over year.  He missed all of last season rehabbing from double hip surgeries.
• The Flyers shot 21-27 free throws (78%) while the Osprey tallied 12-14 (86%).
• UD held strong in the paint with nine offensive rebounds over North Florida's three.
• Trey Landers scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half converting four-of-six field goals.
• Dayton attacked the rim well with five dunks and six layups compared to zero dunks and six layups for the Ospreys.
• The Flyers won the turnover battle forcing 10 and giving away six, committing only half of their turnovers in the first four minutes of the game.
• Every UD player who played, scored.  Junior Jhery Matos and freshman Dwayne Cohill made their Dayton debuts.

UP NEXT
• The Flyers will be at home against Coppin State on Saturday, November 10th.  
• Game time is 7 p.m. ET. 
• It will be televised by Spectrum Sports and aired on WHIO Radio.