Koby Brea scored a team-high 17 points off the bench to help lift No. 21 Dayton to an 80-66 win over visiting Davidson on Tuesday night in Atlantic 10 Conference action.
Brea hit five 3-pointers while Enoch Cheeks added 15 points for the Flyers (22-5, 12-3 Atlantic 10), who rebounded from last Wednesday’s loss at George Mason. DaRon Holmes II had 14 points, Kobe Elvis chipped in 11 and Javon Bennett and Nate Santos each finished with 10 for Dayton.
Connor Kochera led Davidson (15-13, 5-10) with 18 points. Reed Bailey supplied 12 for the Wildcats, who lost their second straight game.
Dayton held a 19-point halftime lead before Kochera scored six straight points to begin the second half, pulling Davidson within 40-27.
Just minutes later, Holmes’ dunk and four straight Cheeks free throws gave Dayton a 51-30 cushion, its largest lead of the game to that point, with 15:21 left.
From there, Davidson battled to cut its deficit to 15 before Elvis’ trey and Holmes’ layup gave the Flyers a 69-49 advantage at the 7:13 mark.
Elvis once again connected from long range, as his third triple of the game gave Dayton a 74-53 lead with 5:56 remaining.
With 27 seconds left, Dayton walk-on CJ Napier connected on just his second made field goal of the season, which made the home crowd erupt.
In the first half, Davidson got off to a 6-0 start before Santos’ three-point play capped a 14-2 Dayton run, giving the Flyers a 14-8 edge with 13:13 left in the period.
The Flyers later opened up a 19-point advantage at 38-19 on Brea’s triple with 2:06 remaining.
After Kochera’s layup stopped the bleeding for Davidson, Santos’ bucket gave Dayton a 40-21 halftime lead.
Kochera led Davidson with nine points in the first half, while Brea’s 14 paced the Flyers.
–Field Level Media