Dayton holds off late rally by Southern to win final non-conference game

Flyers win their fourth straight home game after losing three in a row in November

The Dayton Flyers overcame a season-high 21 turnovers, eight of them committed in the final eight minutes, to beat the Southern Jaguars 69-60 in their final non-conference game of the season Tuesday at UD Arena.

» PHOTOS: Dayton vs. Southern

Dayton built a 61-41 lead with 6:06 remaining but struggled against Southern’s press in the final minutes. The Jaguars (6-7) ran off 14 straight points and got as close as four points with 1:44 to play. A layup by Kobe Elvis at the 1:26 mark gave the Flyers breathing room in the final minute, and they clinched the victory at the free-throw line.

Dayton will head to Atlantic 10 Conference play with an 8-5 mark. It’s scheduled to play at Rhode Island on Dec. 30 in the first of 18 A-10 games.

Elvis led Dayton with 15 points. Toumani Camara had 13 points and 12 rebounds but again led Dayton with six turnovers. He had six in the last home game against Virginia Tech and eight Saturday in a loss at Mississippi.

DaRon Holmes II had 10 points. Malachi Smith had nine.

The Flyers shot 51 percent from the field, while Southern shot 37 percent. Dayton outscored Southern 32-18 in the paint.

HALFTIME RECAP

Camara andElvis combined to make 8 of 8 shots from the field and score 21 points as the Flyers built a 32-21 halftime lead.

Camara had 11 points and made 3 of 4 free throws. He also had nine of Dayton’s 19 rebounds. Elvis had 10 and made 2 of 2 3-pointers.

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Dayton opened the game with a 15-3 run and outscored Southern 5-0 in the last five minutes.

Southern’s last basket of the half came at the 5:32 mark. It cut Dayton’s lead to 27-21 but didn’t score again in the half. Dayton also went five minutes without a field goal before Camara scored with 1:08 to play.

Dayton shot 48 percent (12 of 25) from the field, while Southern shot 25 percent (9 of 25).

The Flyers had eight turnovers in the half. The Jaguars had nine.

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