The Flyers improved to 4-1 at home in Atlantic 10 Conference play entering a two-game stretch on the road. They play at VCU on Wednesday and at Saint Louis on Feb. 5.
Rhode Island (12-7, 3-4) lost its third straight game in A-10 play and fell to 1-3 against Dayton in the last two seasons. The teams play again in Kingston, R.I., on Feb. 14.
Toumani Camara led Dayton with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. DaRon Holmes II scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Holmes blocked six shots, tying the single-game school record for the third time. He also broke Steve McElvene’s school record for blocks in a season. McElvene blocked 55 shots in the 2015-16 season. Holmes now has 56 blocks.
Kobe Elvis scored 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Malachi Smith missed all eight of his field-goal attempts.
Dayton won despite a 24-point second half. Rhode Island wasn’t much better, scoring 26.
The Flyers took a 45-36 lead at the 13:14 mark on a basket by Kobe Elvis but then didn’t score again until the 4:30 mark on a dunk by Holmes. Another basket by Holmes at the 2:41 mark pushed the Dayton lead to 49-42.
Rhode Island still didn’t go away and cut the Dayton lead to 49-47 with 14 seconds to play. That’s when Smith stepped to the line to make two free throws. After a layup by Rhode Island with five seconds left, Amzil clinched the victory with two free throws with four seconds on the clock.
HALFTIME RECAP
Rhode Island trimmed a 10-point deficit to 29-25 at halftime with a 7-1 run in the final minutes of the first half.
Camara led Dayton with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Holmes II scored eight points and blocked four shots.
The Flyers shot 34% (10 of 29) from the field, while the Rams shot 41% (11 of 27).
Dayton outscored Rhode Island 7-2 at the free-throw line and committed five turnovers to Rhode Island’s eight.
The teams combined for one point in a five-minute stretch. Dayton stretched its lead to 10 points three times in the final five minutes but did not score in the last two minutes.
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