Dec. 11, 2009
DAYTON, Ohio - Senior Gerald Lee tallied a team-high 15 points and junior Keyon Carter pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds, but the Dayton Flyers broke open a close game late to pick up a 58-50 win over Old Dominion Friday evening in front of 13, 159 fans at UD Arena.
Dayton (7-2), which was the preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10 and started the year ranked in the Top 25, won its 24th consecutive home game. The streak is the fourth longest active streak in the country.
Despite another solid road effort Old Dominion falls to 6-4 overall and 1-4 away from the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The 13,159 fans was the 15th largest crowd ODU has ever played in front of.
The Monarchs attempted 29 shots in the first half to only 20 for Dayton, but the Flyers led at the break in large part to their 50-percent shooting clip and the Monarch's 2-of-7 mark from the free throw line.
A traditional three-point play from Carter tied the game with just over a minute left in the opening stanza, but Chris Johnson buried a high-arching three from the right corner as time expired to give the Flyers a 28-25 lead at the intermission.
Trailing by five in the second half, the Monarchs went on an 8-0 run to take a 35-32 lead with 13:26 remaining. Lee and Kent Bazemore each scored four points during the Monarch run.
The Flyers responded immediately, scoring the next eight points to regain their five points advantage (40-35). Chris Wright, who hit for a game-high 16 points, scored all eight points during the UD run.
Down 49-42, the Monarchs put together one last run as Lee knocked down a pair of free throws, Trian Iliadis drilled a three-point field goal and Darius James hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to cut the Flyers lead to one, 49-48 with 3:51 remaining in the contest.
Old Dominion would get no closer though as Dayton closed the game on a 9-2 run to seal the victory.
The Monarchs will continue their tough road slate on Saturday, Dec. 19 at BIG EAST foe Georgetown. ODU was victorious the last time it traveled to play the Hoyas during the 2006-07 season.
-ODU-