Dayton moves into second place in A-10 with double-digit victory against Saint Louis

The victory followed a 62-58 win Tuesday at Virginia Commonwealth.

Here’s a quick recap of the game:

What it means: Dayton (17-9, 9-4) moved past Saint Louis (16-9, 8-4) and into second place. VCU (18-7, 9-3) sits alone in first place. The Flyers have five games remaining in the regular season and close the 18-game schedule at Saint Louis on March 3.

Star of the game: Toumani Camara led Dayton with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He made 5 of 8 shots from the field.

Stat of the game: Saint Louis shot 24% (6 of 25) from the field in the second half. It missed all six of its 3-point attempts in the second. In Dayton’s last game, VCU missed all nine of its second-half 3-point attempts.

Javonte Perkins led Saint Louis with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

Turning point: Dayton led 41-34 at halftime and opened the second half with an 9-2 run to push the lead to double digits. Saint Louis did not challenge the lead the rest of the game.

Looking ahead: Dayton gets a week off before playing at Loyola Chicago (8-15, 2-9) at 7 p.m. Feb. 17.

HALFTIME RECAP

Malachi Smith scored 14 points in the first half to lead Dayton to a 41-34 halftime lead. There were nine lead changes in the half and two ties.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key player: Smith returned to the starting lineup after missing the game Tuesday at Virginia Commonwealth with an ankle injury. He made 5 of 7 shots from the field, including 2 of 4 3-pointers. He also tallied five assists in 17 minutes.

Key stat: The teams combined to make 11 of 22 3-pointers. Saint Louis made 5 of 9. Dayton made 6 of 13.

» MONGOLIA DAY: City of Dayton honors Sharavjamts

Gibson Jimerson, of Saint Louis, made 2 of 3 3-pointers. He made both 3s on the team’s first two possessions.

Big run: Dayton turned an 18-13 deficit at the 14:17 mark into a 22-18 lead at the 11:33 mark. Smith scored the last four points in the run on back-to-back layups.

Lineup news: R.J. Blakney was sidelined with an injury he suffered at VCU. Smith and Koby Brea started. Mike Sharavjamts came off the bench after starting the last game.