Dayton’s disastrous start continues with late collapse in loss to Austin Peay

The last time Dayton lost three home games in eight days or fewer was in January 1995. The opponents then — Marquette, Southern Utah and Cincinnati — would not measure up to the three teams Dayton lost to in the last eight days: No. 230 UMass Lowell; No. 190 Lipscomb; and now No. 310 Austin Peay.

By any measure, this is the worst home loss in a long time for Dayton, and the way it ended made it that much worse. Dayton (1-3) led the entire second half and stretched its advantage to 12 points early in the second half.

After a free throw by Toumani Camara with 4:12 to play, Dayton didn’t score again until Kobe Elvis made a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds left.

Austin Peay (2-2) tied the game with 2:55 to play on a 3-pointer by Carlos Paez and took an 80-78 lead on a basket by Caleb Stone-Carrawell with 2:18 to go.

Dayton made several big changes in the game, employing an intense full-court pressure defense throughout the game playing a 10-man rotation. In the end, it didn’t matter. Dayton’s 3-point shooting may have been the biggest factor in the loss. It made 3 of 21, while Austin Peay made 10 of 21.

Elijah Hutchins-Everett led Austin Peay with 25 points. He made 13 of 16 free throws.

Camara led Dayton with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Koby Brea scored 13.

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers enjoyed a halftime lead for the first time this season Saturday.

After trailing Illinois-Chicago and UMass Lowell by seven points at halftime and Liscomb by 10, it led Austin Peay 46-38 at halftime. The 46 points also topped their previous best first-half total by 18 points.

The unexpected star of the half was Dayton center Moulaye Sissoko, who needed just one half to reach his career high of 12 points. He had 20 points in his career in 17 appearances entering the game.

Dayton shot 65.4 percent from the floor, relying on in the inside game. It attempted only four 3-pointers.

All 10 players who saw action in the first half for Dayton scored except for Malachi Smith, who led the team with four assists in the half in his first start.