Dayton Flyers hold off Duquesne for 10th straight victory

» PHOTOS: Flyers vs. Dukes

The Dukes (15-5, 5-3) trailed 57-38 with 12 minutes to play, cut the deficit to four points with six minutes to play only to see Dayton push the lead back to 11 points.

There was one more Duquesne rally, however. It got as close as 71-69 in the final 30 seconds before Toppin stepped to the line for the game-clinching free throws.

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Dayton (19-2, 8-0) won its 10th straight game. It’s the longest winning streak for the program since it won 13 straight in the 2007-08 season. It’s the first 8-0 start in A-10 play for Dayton since it was 9-0 in 2004.

Toppin led Dayton with 22 points. Jalen Crutcher scored 18. Trey Landers had 12.

HALFTIME RECAP

Crutcher hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Flyers a 38-30 halftime lead.

Crutcher, who hit the 1,000-point milestone with his first basket of the game, scored eight points in the half. Obi Toppin also scored eight. Trey Landers led the Flyers with nine.

Dayton never trailed in the first half. It took control with a quick 9-0 run from the 7:18 to the 6:11 mark, turning a one-point lead into a 29-19 advantage. Duquesne got no closer than five points in the final minutes of the half.

Dayton shot 64 percent (16 of 25) from the field and 57.1 percent (4 of 7) from 3-point range. Duquesne shot 36.7 percent (11 of 30) from the field and 28.6 percent (4 of 14) from long range.

Marcus Weathers, Sincere Carry, Tavian Dunn-Martin and Michael Hughes all scored six points for the Dukes.

Duquesne stayed close for most of the half by grabbing eight offensive rebounds to Dayton’s two.

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