Dayton Flyers beat Saint Louis for 12th straight victory

Jalen Crutcher, Trey Landers and Rodney Chatman combined to make 6 of 8 free throws in the final 64 seconds.

Dayton (21-2, 10-0) won its 12th straight game. It leads Rhode Island by one game in the A-10. The Flyers and Rams meet at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at UD Arena.

Saint Louis led twice by one point in the second half. Its lead was 47-46 after a basket by Javonte Perkins with 13:02 to go, and then Crutcher gave Dayton the lead on a layup with 11:28 to play. Perkins scored again to give Saint Louis a 49-48 lead, and Crutcher answered with a 3-pointer at the 10:25 mark. Dayton led the rest of the way but never by more than seven.

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Crutcher and Obi Toppin each scored 17. Ryan Mikesell had 11 points. Chatman added nine.

Each team shot 49 percent. Dayton outscored Saint Louis 20-10 at the free-throw line. Saint Louis had a 33-27 rebounding advantage. Dayton had six turnovers. Saint Louis had 13.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers scored four points in the last 45 seconds to build a 39-31 halftime lead.

Ryan Mikesell made 2 of 2 free throws with 45 seconds to play. Then a Saint Louis turnover led to a layup by Toppin with 29 seconds remaining.

Toppin opened the game with a 3-pointer and finished the first half with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Mikesell and Chatman each scored six.

Dayton has trailed at halftime in only one game this season, and that was Jan. 17 at Saint Louis. The Flyers overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to win that game 78-76 in overtime on a last-second 3-pointer by Jalen Crutcher.

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Dayton did not trail in the first half this time and led by as many as 10 points. Dayton shot 52 percent from the field. Saint Louis shot 44 percent. Each team made 3 of 8 3-pointers. Dayton outscored Saint Louis 10-6 at the free-throw line.

Jordan Goodwin scored 11 points for Saint Louis. Dayton, which was out-rebounded 45-33 in the first game, had a 16-13 rebounding advantage.

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