Dayton fades in final minutes in loss to No. 25 Mississippi State

Flyers lose their third straight game

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

No. 25 Mississippi State outscored the Dayton Flyers 21-7 in the final six minutes to win 65-58 at UD Arena on Friday.

Dayton led 51-44 at the 6:19 mark. The game was tied with under three minutes to play. Lamar Peters hit a 3-pointer with 2:17 left to put the Bulldogs ahead for good.

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A 3-pointer by Nick Weatherspoon with 28 seconds remaining clinched the victory for Mississippi State.

Ryan Mikesell led the Flyers with 15 points. Jalen Crutcher and Josh Cunningham each scored 11.

Quinndary Weatherspoon scored 21 for the Bulldogs, who beat Dayton for the second straight year. The Flyers (4-3) have lost three straight games for the first time since March of 2017.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers were outscored 7-0 in the last three minutes of the first half but led Mississippi State 29-26 at halftime.

Cunningham scored nine points to lead the Flyers. He started the game on the bench as Obi Toppin took his spot in the starting lineup. Toppin scored Dayton’s first four points and finished the half with six points.

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Mikesell and Crutcher each scored five points.

With Jhery Matos missing the game with a toe injury — he'll be out indefinitely, Dayton coach Anthony Grant said after the game — and Dayton down to seven scholarship players, Dayton decided to play freshman forward Frankie Policelli. The decision means he won't redshirt this season as was the plan. He missed his first shot but had an assist on his second possession. He played 2 minutes, 30 seconds in the half.

Nick Weatherspoon scored eight points to lead the Bulldogs, who trailed 29-19 with 3:04 to play after a basket by Toppin. Five straight points by Reggie Perry and then a basket by Weatherspoon cut the deficit to three points.

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COVERAGE NOTES: Watch Mike Hartsock's weekly series "Flyer Nation" for a special look behind the court. It's available on our WHIO app for your TV streaming player: whio.com/watch.

• Hear coverage of Friday's game starting at 6 pm on AM 1290 and News 95.7 WHIO. You can listen online here: whio.com/WHIORadio.

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