Dayton Cruises Past Lehigh 86-62

Dayton entertained Lehigh on Saturday afternoon in a rare matinee', showcasing hot shooting to down the Mountain Hawks 86-62 and improve to 8-2. The win extends the UD Arena winning streak to 23 games, good enough for fifth-best homecourt winning streak in the country. Lehigh falls to 3-6.
Dayton and Lehigh met one prior time, a 2009 contest at UD Arena the Flyers won 89-71.  The Mountain Hawks --  members of the Patriot League --  entered Saturday's game 90-63 winners over Monmouth on December 4th, while UD used a second half rally to top Western Michigan 77-69 on December 3rd.  Sharing two common opponents, Lehigh lost 90-46 to Northwestern and 88-78 to St. Francis (PA) -- teams UD beat 71-66 and 87-57 respectively. On paper, the Mountain Hawks were significant underdogs against the Flyers and the proverbial "buy game" opponent looking to collect a fat check in exchange for a solid beating. That's essentially how it played out.
UD started the game with three consecutive triples to open up a 9-2 lead at the first media timeout. The margin ballooned to double digits and remained so over the rest of the half as the Flyers bothered Lehigh on defense by forcing tough attempts late in ...