No. 24 Dayton Flyers pull away in final minutes to beat SMU

The No. 24 Dayton Flyers outscored Southern Methodist 15-3 in the final five minutes to win 74-62 on Friday at UD Arena in the second game of the season.

Dayton led the entire second half until SMU tied the game at 59-59 at the 5:05 mark. R.J. Blakney made a 3-pointer on the next possession to put Dayton on top, and that started the game-ending run.

What it means: The Flyers, who routed Lindenwood 73-46 in the season opener Monday, are 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They avenged losses to SMU in the second game of the 2020-21 season and in December last season.

Explore» PHOTOS: Dayton vs. SMU

Players of the game: DaRon Holmes II and Mustapha Amzil each scored 20 points.

Key stat: Toumani Camara had 18 rebounds, and Dayton had a 44-36 rebounding advantage.

Key play: With Dayton leading 63-62, Amzil made a 3-pointer with 2:12 to play. Amzil made 3 of 6 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws. After a basket by Holmes, Amzil put the game out of reach by making three free throws with 48 seconds left.

Looking ahead: Dayton plays UNLV at 11 p.m. Tuesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

Dayton outscores SMU 15-3 in last five minutes and wins 74-62. Students brought Mongolia flag to game for Mike Sharavjamts. pic.twitter.com/kctMR4Lwtp
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) November 12, 2022

HALFTIME RECAP

The Flyers scored seven points in the last 12 minutes of the first half but still owned a 29-24 halftime lead against Southern Methodist.

Dayton led 22-10 after two free throws by Amzil with 12:00 to play and didn’t score again until Holmes made a short shot with 5:33 to play.

Here’s a quick recap of the half:

SMU’s scorer: Zach Nutall led the Mustangs with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.

Dayton’s top scorer: Holmes scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Big run: Dayton went on a 13-0 run to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 17-7 lead with 13:06 to play. Amzil scored five points in the run.

Key stat: Dayton had a 29-18 rebounding advantage. Toumani Camara had eight for Dayton.

Shooting numbers: Dayton made 2 of 14 3-pointers (14%), while SMU made 4 of 11 (36%).

Rotation news: Dayton played seven scholarship players in the first half but not walk-on Brady Uhl, who saw action early in the opener. Koby Brea dressed in uniform for the game for the first time but did not see action in the first half.