DAYTON – The University of Dayton Flyers men's basketball team used a second-half surge to defeat Rhode Island 67-56 and secured the Flyers' fifth win in their last six games. Dayton outscored Rhode Island 38-24 in the second half after trailing by as many as nine in the first.

Ibi Watson scored a team-high 22 points while Jalen Crutcher scored 15.

UD improves to 10-4 and 6-3 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island is now 9-9, and 6-5 in the A-10.  

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Half:  Rhode Island 32, Dayton 29

• Rhode Island jumped out to an early 5-2 advantage. Dayton pulled ahead 8-7, as four different Flyers scored baskets by the first media timeout.
• The Rams then went on a 10-3 run to take a 17-11 advantage at the 11:30 mark.
• After Dayton pulled within a 19-16 margin, Rhode Island scored six straight points to take a 25-16 lead at the 7:33 mark. That was the Rams' biggest lead of the half.
• The Flyers responded with six straight points of their own, cutting the Rams' lead to 25-22. The margin was still three at the end of the half.
• Ibi Watson scored 10 points to lead the Flyers on 4-of-6 shooting and was 2-of-3 from three.
• Mustapha Amzil added nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.

2nd Half:  Dayton 67, Rhode Island 56

• Early baskets from Jordy Tshimanga and Amzil gave the Flyers their first lead since the game's opening minutes. Back-to-back threes from Watson pushed the Dayton lead to 40-32.
• Rhode Island was held scoreless for the first 6:27 of the half.
• After Dayton scored the first 15 points of the half, Rhode Island scored four to cut the Flyer lead to 44-36.
• The Flyers responded with another 10-2 run of their own, pushing the lead to 54-38 at the under-8 media timeout. This was the biggest lead of the game for Dayton.
• Rhode Island never pulled closer than eight for the rest of the game.
• After being held to two points in the first half, Jalen Crutcher scored 13 points in the second half.
• The Rams were held to just 30.8% shooting in the half, while UD shot 51.9% after halftime.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Ibi Watson scored 22 points, with 10 in the 1st half and 12 in the 2nd. He shot 9-for-14 from the field on the afternoon.
• Rhode Island was held to 5-of-22 (22.7%) from three during the game. Leading scorer Fatts Russell was held to just four points and 1-of-6 from the floor. 
• Four Flyers scored double-figures during the game.  In addition to Watson, Jalen Crutcher finished with 15 while Jordy Tshimanga and Mustapha Amzil each added 11.
• Four Flyers had at least seven rebounds.  Tshimanga led with eight, while Amzil, Watson (college career-high) and Elijah Weaver (college career-high) all had seven.
• Weaver led Dayton with six assists (and no turnovers), and Crutcher added five (with four steals).
• Dayton outscored Rhode Island 36-24 in the paint, 17-12 off of turnovers and 14-9 on fast breaks.

UP NEXT 

• UD will go right back on the road and travel to Duquesne on Tuesday, Feb. 2.  That game tips at 9 p.m. ET.
• The game will open up Duquesne' newly-renovated UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
• The Flyers return home to face A-10 preseason favorite Richmond on Friday, Feb. 5.  Game time is 7 p.m. ET.