Dayton closes game strong to beat Western Michigan and even record at 4-4

What it means: Dayton evened its record at 4-4. It’s 4-0 at home and 0-4 away from UD Arena with a loss at UNLV on Nov. 15 and losses to Wisconsin, North Carolina State and Brigham Young in the Bahamas last week.

Star of the game: Dayton’s DaRon Holmes II scored 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and had 10 rebounds. It’s his first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career.

Key stat: Dayton outscored Western Michigan 22-9 at the free-throw line with Holmes making 8 of 14.

Turning point: Dayton led from start to finish but let the Broncos stay within single digits until the final seven minutes. Dayton put the game away with a 19-4 run.

Rotation news: Kaleb Washington made his season debut in the final minute. He was suspended for the first four games but returned to practice after the UNLV game. He was on the bench in the Bahamas but not in uniform.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Southeastern Louisiana (4-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton built a 37-24 halftime lead against Western Michigan. Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Top players: Dayton’s Toumani Camara scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Holmes II had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Biggest lead: Dayton led 27-8 with 8:15 left in the half.

Biggest run: Dayton outscored Western Michigan 13-1 in the first 6:34.

Key stat: Dayton shot 54.5% (12 of 22), and Western Michigan shot 34.6% (9 of 26).

Injury news: Western Michigan’s Lamar Norman Jr. was helped to the locker room after an injury. He scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting before the injury.

Rotation news: With Kobe Elvis and Malachi Smith on crutches after suffering injuries Friday in a 79-75 overtime loss to BYU, Dayton started R.J. Blakney and Mustapha Amzil in their place. Blakney started the first five games but then came off the bench in the last two games.

Koby Brea, who missed six of the first seven games and did not travel to the tournament in the Bahamas because of an illness, played just short of 10 minutes in the first half. Brea was the first player off the bench along with Zimi Nwokeji. Brady Uhl was the third player off the bench and played just short of two minutes.