“It really sets a standard I have to hold myself to,” Williams said. “I can do it. I can play like that every game.”
Williams made 5 of 9 shots from the field and 3 of 5 3-pointers in the first game and 5 of 8 shots from the field and 1 of 3 3-pointers in the second game. Williams scored five straight points with under seven minutes to play after Portland had cut Dayton’s lead to 62-55.
“We had a big summer working on our shots,” Williams said. “It’s just staying in the gym and getting the routine down. I put a lot of time in the gym, so it’s nice to see it pay off.”
Cooke stars: There's no question Charles Cooke is Dayton's best player, and he continues to prove it. He led the Flyers with 20 points. He made 7 of 13 shots in 30 minutes.
Cooke scored six points in less than 90 seconds early in the second half as Dayton pushed its lead to 53-40.
Better start: Poor starts plagued the Flyers in the last three games. They jumped out to a 16-6 lead in this game. Sam Miller, Scoochie Smith and Cooke had 3-pointers in the first six minutes.
“We wanted to get off the mat after a loss,” Cooke said. “Starting the game off right was our main focus.”
Next game: Dayton (3-2) will play New Mexico (4-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday in the fifth-place game. The Lobos beat Cal State Northridge 105-89 Friday.
“I know coach (Craig) Neal does a great job with his guys,” Dayton coach Archie Miller said. “They’ve always done a great job offensively getting their guys great shots. Tim Williams is a guy we recruited a few years back. I know he’s a load inside. They’ve got good size. Elijah Brown is a big-time scorer. They’re a good offensive team. I think they mix their defenses up pretty well. Their a Mountain West contender. For us, this is a great test.”
Miller's comments: The Flyers avoided their first three-game losing streak since January 2014.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Miller said. “Any time you’re in this type of event situation, you can have a win or a loss, but you have a very short amount of time to figure out what you did right and wrong and then you have to move forward, and I thought we did that. Our guys handled a tough loss, a disappointing loss. It was not so much that we lost the game but everyone understands in our program what we have to be about. On the defensive side, I thought we were much better to start the game. That carried us all the way through.”
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