Strong 3-point shooting carries Dayton past Saint Louis

Crutcher leads offense with 17 points

The Dayton Flyers pulled away from Saint Louis in the final 10 minutes and sealed a 70-62 victory with four free throws in the final 62 seconds Saturday at UD Arena.

Dayton (18-9, 10-4) distanced itself from one of the teams competing for a top-four seed in the Atlantic 10 tournament. Saint Louis (17-10, 8-6) fell two games behind Dayton with four to play. The Flyers sit alone in third place with George Mason, Duquesne and St. Bonaventure all a game back of them at 9-5.

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Jalen Crutcher led Dayton with 17 points. Josh Cunningham scored 13. Ryan Mikesell added 12. Obi Toppin had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Dayton took control in the second half by making 7 of 11 3-pointers after making 3 of 11 in the first half.

The Flyers led by as many as 10 points twice in the second half, and the Billikens got no closer than six points in the final eight minutes.

HALFTIME RECAP

Crutcher hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Flyers a 22-21 halftime lead.

The Flyers trailed 19-9 with six minutes to play but ended the half on a 12-2 run. The Billikens scored their last basket at the 2:46 mark. Dayton ended the half on a 6-0 run.

Obi Toppin and Ryan Mikesell led the Flyers with six points. Toppin tied Chris Wright’s school record with his 66th dunk of the season.

Tramaine Isabell Jr. led Saint Louis with eight points.

The Billikens shot 37 percent from the field and 16.7 percent (1 of 6) from 3-point range. Dayton shot 33.3 percent from the field and 27.3 percent (3 of 11) from 3-point range.

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