Dayton rallies in second half to beat Western Michigan for 22nd straight home victory

What it means: Dayton (7-2) avoided an upset loss four days after arriving back in Ohio after playing three top-25 teams in three days in Maui and beat then No. 2 and now No. 25 Connecticut 85-67 on Wednesday.

• Dayton won its 22nd straight home game. That’s the third-longest streak in school history. The Flyers won 30 home games in a row from March 2008 to January 2010 and 27 in a row from February 2014 to December 2016.

• Dayton has won 16 straight games against Mid-American Conference teams.

• Dayton leads the series against Western Michigan 4-0. This was the first meeting since 2022 when Dayton won 67-47 at UD Arena.

Star of the game: Dayton guard Enoch Cheeks, who was named Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Week on Monday, built on a strong performance in Maui with 23 points against the Broncos. He made 7 of 10 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 5 3-pointers, and 6 of 6 free throws.

Key stat: Dayton shot 42.9% (9 of 21) from 3-point range. Western Michigan shot 29.4% (5 of 17).

Turning point: Dayton trailed 44-34 three minutes into the second half. From 16:11 mark to the 12:18 mark, Dayton outscored Western Michigan 13-2. Posh Alexander and Malachi Smith each made two free throws to cap the run and give Dayton a 47-46 lead.

Western Michigan took the lead right back on its next possession. Dayton answered with a 6-0 run and led the rest of the way.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays Lehigh (2-5) at 2 p.m. Saturday at UD Arena. Lehigh has lost to two teams Dayton has played: 90-46 at Northwestern on Nov. 4; and 88-78 at Saint Francis on Nov. 26.

Dayton and Lehigh have played once. The Flyers won 89-71 on Dec. 5, 2009, at UD Arena.

Dayton last played a Patriot League team on Dec. 20, 2014, beating Boston University 78-62 at UD Arena.

HALFTIME RECAP

Dayton led three top-25 teams at halftime in the Maui Invitational last week but faced a 35-32 halftime deficit.

This is the first time Dayton has trailed at halftime since the second game of the season when it faced a 32-24 deficit against Northwestern. Dayton won that game 71-66.

Here’s a quick recap of the first half:

Key players: Owen Lobsinger scored 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting for Western Michigan. He made 3 of 8 3-pointers. Lobsinger, who averages 10.7 points per game, matched his season high in the half.

Cheeks led Dayton with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He made 3 of 4 3-pointers.

Key stat: Western Michigan shot 60% (15 of 25) from the field. Dayton shot 44.4% (12 of 27).

Big run: Dayton led 30-25 after a layup by Nate Santos with 4 minutes, 29 seconds left in the half. Western Michigan outscored Dayton 10-2 the rest of the way. Lobsinger scored all 10 points in that run.

Fast start: Western Michigan made its first four shots. Dayton made 3 of its first four shots.