DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton men’s basketball team cruised to a 75-59 victory over the George Washington Colonials on senior day at UD Arena. Four Flyers scored in double figures as UD closed the regular season with a 19-11 overall record and 9-7 mark in Atlantic 10 play. GW dropped to 10-20 overall with a 5-11 Atlantic 10 record. The win was the 93rd for UD’s seniors – Chris Johnson, Luke Fabrizius, Josh Parker and Paul Williams – which is the third-most wins of any class.
Senior Chris Johnson led Dayton with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Johnson has scored at least 16 points in seven of the last eight games.
The Flyers looked early and often for junior Matt Kavanaugh as he scored UD’s first six points of the game. Kavanaugh finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, grabbing eight rebounds. Junior Kevin Dillard scored 12 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. Senior Paul Williams added 10 points, while sophomore Devin Oliver had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Dayton never trailed as they jumped out to an early 9-2 lead within the first five minutes of the game. The Flyers led 26-16 with 6:59 left until halftime before a 9-2 GW run cut the Flyer lead to 29-25 with 4:21 remaining in the first stanza. Dayton responded with a 9-2 run of its own to end the half with a 38-27 lead.
The Flyers continued their hot play out of the locker room going on an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 20, the largest of the game.
The Colonials cut the Flyer lead to 11 (66-55) with 3:06 remaining in the game after a three-pointer by junior Lasan Kromah. That was the closest GW came in the second half as the Flyers closed out the Colonials in the final minutes.
Junior forward David Pellom led the Colonials with 18 points and nine rebounds. Senior Tony Taylor had 17 points and Kromah had 16 points. No other Colonial player had more than two points.
Overall, UD shot 50 percent from the field (25-of-50) and GW shot 46 percent (23-of-50). The Flyers converted their first 7-of-9 three pointers and shot 10-of-16 for the game from beyond the arc. George Washington shot 3-of-8 from the three. Dayton out-rebounded the Colonials 31-25 and had 18 points off of turnovers. UD shot 15-of-19 from the foul line (78.9%), while GW shot 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the line.
Dayton has clinched a berth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, first round games begin at campus sites on Tuesday, March 6. Following the first round of the A-10 Tournament, the remainder of games will be played at Boardwalk Hall March 9-11 in Atlantic City, N.J. Seeding and opponents will be determined following the conclusion of Atlantic 10 regular season play on Saturday. Tickets are presently on sale on DaytonFlyers.com in the event that UD hosts a first round game on Tuesday.
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