DAYTON -- Double-digit performances points from four Flyers led the University of Dayton men's basketball team to a 70-56 win over the Saint Louis Billikens and advance to 17-9 on the season. Dayton is 9-4 in the Atlantic 10, a half-game behind league leader VCU and a half-game ahead of Saint Louis.
Toumani Camara his seventh double-double of the year (and third straight) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. DaRon Holmes II added 15 points, Malachi Smith had 14 and Koby Brea tallied 13.
First Half – Dayton 41, Saint Louis 34
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Malachi Smith and Koby Brea started the Dayton scoring with back-to-back three-point field goals after Saint Louis' Gibson Jimerson hit back-to-back threes to score the first six points of the game.
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A pair of Smith free throws gave Dayton its first lead (8-6), and then Toumani Camara hit a three of his own to reclaim the lead (11-9 with 16:29 left in the half).
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Brea started off red-hot, making his first four shots (3-3 on his first three-point attempts). Smith also scored nine points in the first nine minutes.
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Mike Sharavjamts drove the ball to the basket and finished it with a nice double-clutch layup to put Dayton up 25-21 at the 9:23 mark.
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SLU came back with five unanswered points to take its last lead of the game (28-27 with 5:11 to go), but closed the half with a 14-6 spurt to take a seven-point lead into the locker room.
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UD ended the half by making five of its last six field goals.
Second Half – Dayton 70, Saint Louis 56
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A step-back three -pointer by Kobe Elvis pushed the Flyer lead out to 10 (46-36) at the 17:34 mark.
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Brea followed up with a three of his own and Dayton led 49-36 with 15:45 to go in the half.
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Holmes got a block on the defensive end which ignited a personal 5-0 run by Camara to push the UD advantage out to 17 (55-38) with 10:38 left. basket on the offensive end.
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Dayton continued to be aggressive on both ends of the court, extending the lead out to as much as 19 points (65-46) with 3:01 remaining in the game.
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After Saint Louis shot 50% (14 of 28) in the first half, the Dayton defense showed up in the second, holding SLU to 24% (6 of 25). The Billikens scored 18 points in the first six minutes of the game, but it took them more than 18 minutes to score their 18th second-half point.
BY THE NUMBERS
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Toumani Camara's 17 points came on five-for-eight shooting from the field, including making both of his three-pointers. His 10 rebounds marked the 11th time his season he grabbed 10 or more boards.
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DaRon Holmes II drew 10 fouls in the game, leading to seven of his 15 points coming from the free throw line.
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All 14 of Malachi Smith's points and five of his six assists came in 17 minutes in the first half. He was a team-best +20 in 25 minutes of action.
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Koby Brea scored 13 points (3-6 from deep), and added six rebounds and three assists (no turnovers).
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Dayton shot an impressive 41% (9-22) from beyond the arc. UD is 10-1 when shooting 40% or higher from distance.
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