Dayton basketball: Flyers 3-0 in A-10 after rallying to beat George Washington

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (12-4 overall) is 3-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference for the third time in four seasons. It has won 12 straight games against George Washington at UD Arena since GW won 62-59 in 2005.

George Washington (11-5, 2-1) suffered its first A-10 loss. It fell to No. 66 in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. It’s the highest-ranked team Dayton has beaten this season.

Star of the game: Javon Bennett scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half. He missed all 11 of his field-goal attempts in the first half and then made his first 3 in the second half. He made 4 of 20 field goals, including 3 of 9 3-pointers, and 9 of 10 free throws.

Surprising stat: George Washington’s top player, Rafael Castro, who scored 26 and 27 points in the first two A-10 games, scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.

Bench contribution: Jaiun Simon played a career-high 30 minutes and scored a career-high 12 points. He made 3 of 5 field goals and 6 of 6 free throws. He led Dayton with nine rebounds.

Stat of the game: Dayton shot a season-best 90% (27 of 30) at the free-throw line. George Washington shot 60% (12 of 20).

Defensive success: George Washington committed 22 turnovers, many against Dayton’s full-court pressure defense. The Flyers, who had 14 turnovers, outscored George Washington 31-13 in points off turnovers.

Turning point: George Washington scored seven straight points to take a 49-46 lead with 12 minutes, 32 seconds to play. Javon Bennett then scored to start a 7-0 Dayton run. The Flyers led the rest of the way.

Looking ahead: Dayton gets a week off before playing Duquesne (9-6, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 in Pittsburgh.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton trailed George Washington by as many as nine points in the first half and faced a 35-30 halftime deficit.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

Key players: Tre Dinkins scored 12 points off the bench for George Washington. He made 3 of 6 3-pointers. George Washington’s reserves outscored Dayton’s 26-6.

Keonte Jones scored nine points for Dayton. He made 3 of 3 field goals, including one 3-pointer, and 2 of 2 free throws.

Key stat: George Washington shot 33% (6 of 18) from 3-point range. Dayton shot 16.7% (2 of 12).

Biggest lead: George Washington led 27-18 at the 4:41 mark after a 3-pointer by Garrett Johnson.

Lineup news: Amaël L’Etang (lower-body injury) and Malcolm Thomas (ankle) missed their third straight game with injuries.