With family in stands, Cooke leads Flyers to road win

WEDNESDAY’S GAME

Saint Louis at Dayton, 7 p.m., TWC SportsChannel, 95.7, 1290

Charles Cooke’s dad, uncle and brother braved the winter storm to make the trip from his hometown of Trenton, N.J., to Bronx, N.Y. Dayton’s junior forward made their effort worthwhile, scoring a career-high 26 points to lead the Flyers to a 64-50 victory Sunday over Fordham at Rose Hill Gym.

For the second straight game, the Flyers (16-3, 6-1) grabbed a big early lead and then held tight to it for the rest of the game. They watched a 31-point lead Tuesday at St. Bonaventure dip to six points at the final buzzer and saw a 16-point lead dwindle to seven points with 2:32 to play at Fordham (11-7, 2-5).

The Flyers didn’t put away the Rams until the final minutes, but they controlled this game from start to finish and never really were in danger of losing the lead. Cooke played a big part in their dominance, making 9 of 12 shots from the field, 4 of 6 3-pointers and 4 of 7 free throws.

“I was just trying to stay confident in myself,” Cooke said. “I knew I should attack the rim with the defense they were playing.”

Cooke scored his previous career high of 25 as a sophomore at James Madison on Dec. 14, 2013. He scored 24 against North Florida at UD Arena on Dec. 5.

Cooke scored the first two points of a 15-2 run by Dayton to start the game. In the second half, he scored 11 straight points from the 7:09 mark of the second half to the 1:02 mark, helping the Flyers keep the Rams at arm’s length.

Cooke scored 21 points in the 85-79 victory at St. Bonaventure. He has topped 20 points eight times.

“Charles just continues to play at a really high level for us,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “He’s starting to get very comfortable letting the game come to him earlier in the game. Not as many quick shots. Not as many forced 2s. He’s starting to be the benefactor of guys moving it around and looking for him.”

Dayton point guard Scoochie Smith also had a strong game in his hometown. He made 3 of 4 3-pointers and scored 14 points.

Smith made one of the most important shots of the game, a 3-pointer with 8:06 remaining to stop a 7-0 Fordham run and give Dayton a 49-38 lead. It was Dayton’s first field goal in more than five minutes.

Dayton won its fourth straight game and maintained its hold on second place in the Atlantic 10 Conference. It trails Virginia Commonwealth (15-5, 7-0) by a game and leads third-place St. Joseph’s (16-3, 5-1) by a half game.

“I think we’re starting to figure it out a little bit,” Miller said. “Getting ready for Fordham, I thought our guys saw a lot of film on being able to ping the ball out of traps, and you have to be able to put the ball on the floor when they run at you. In back-to-back first halves, at Bonaventure and here, guys were really dialed in and being unselfish, almost too unselfish at times, which is a good thing to have.”